“Putting People First” published in October 2012 by the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government sets out the government”s strategy for the reform of local government. It represents a fundamental shift in the way that local government will operate in Ireland for the foreseeable future. Key decisions that were previously made centrally will be made locally, affecting funding and other resource allocations.
Among many other reforms a new local structure entitled the Socio Economic Committee, (SEC) will be established, which will have oversight and administration of many local development funding streams. A five year City and County Local Community Development Plan will be developed by the Socio Economic Committee. All local statutory agencies with a local development function will be represented on the Socio Economic Committee (including the HSE) as well as locally elected officials, and local authority personnel. “Community interests” will also be represented but who this refers to, and how this will be decided has not yet been defined. The deadline for completion of the reform process coincides with the local elections in June 2014, and the new structures will operate from that point onwards. It is important at this stage to consider the impact of these changes on the disability sector.
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