International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

5.0 Governance Structures / Responsibilities for
Delivery of National Strategy
Ireland has 34 City and County Councils. Under the Local Government Act 1991, 8
regional authorities were established. 106 These regional authorities are responsible
for promoting the coordination of public service provision and monitoring the delivery
of the EU Structural Fund assistance in the regions. The regional authorities carry out
the following tasks:
74
� Reviewing the development plans of the local authorities and examining the
plans with consideration for the overall development needs of the region;
� Preparing regional planning guidelines and regional economic/social
strategies; and
� Promoting cooperation and joint arrangements among the local authorities
including the implications and effects of their decisions on the services for the
regions.
Membership of the regional authorities consists of elected officials from the local
authorities (numbers related to the population of the local authority area). The
regional authorities are the Border, the West, the Mid-West, the South-West, the
Midlands, the South-East, the Mid-East, and Dublin.
5.1 Regional Authorities in Waste Management
The Waste Management Act (1996) suggested, in Article 25, that local authorities
might come together to plan for waste management. In 1998, DoEHLG set out a plan
to change the waste management in Ireland – ‘Changing Our Ways’. This policy
statement advocated the development of regional waste management.
The result of this was the formation of 7 regions, with three counties developing their
own separate waste plans. These were Donegal, Wicklow and Kilkenny County
Councils. The remaining 7 regions are as follows:
� Cork
� Connaught
� Dublin
� South-East
� Mid-West
� North-East and
� Midlands.
106 Irish Regions Office (2006) Regional Authorities, available at: http://www.iro.ie/irish_regions.html
29/09/09