Regions of Ireland
REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES
The regionalisation arrangements negotiated by the Irish Government in
the context of Agenda 2000 resulted in the designation of Ireland into
two (NUTS II level) Regions for EU Structural Funds purposes: The Border
Midland & Western Region (BMW) and the Southern & Eastern Region (S&E
).
Following upon this, two new Regional Assemblies were established
and came into effect in July 1999. Their main responsibilities are:
• to manage and monitor their respective Regional Operational Programmes under the Structural Funds (they performed a similar role for the Regional Operational Programmes under the 2000-2006 National
Development Plan);
• to promote coordination in the provision of public services across their areas;
• to monitor and make proposals in relation to the general impact of EU funding;
• to make public bodies aware of the regional implications of their policies and plans
The Assemblies also host and undertake various key functions relating to INTERREG/Territorial Cooperation programmes on behalf of Ireland.
The two regions are recognised as being at different stages of development. For the 2000-2006 Structural Funding period the BMW availed of Objective 1 status for the full period while the S&E had a phasing out regime for Objective 1 until the end of 2005 (with the exception of the NUTS III South-East region which enjoyed this designation for a further 12 months). Under the current Structural Funds programming period both regions are classified as being 'Competitiveness' regions ('Objective 2) though the BMW remains a 'Phasing-in' region (entitling it to higher funding intervention rates) while the S&E is a 'Competitiveness & Employment' region.
Membership of the Regional Assemblies
There are no direct elections to the Regional Assemblies. Instead they are comprised of elected representatives nominated by the local authorities from the membership of the Regional Authorities within each region. Each local authority has a certain number of nominations to an Assembly, based loosely on the population of the local authority area. The BMW Assembly has a total of 29 members and the S&E Assembly has 41 members.
Structure of the Regional Assemblies
The Regional Assemblies also have an Operational Committee, which is
composed of Chief Executive Officers of public authorities in the region
and the Directors and Cathaoirligh (Chairpersons) of the Regional Authorities
in the region. This committee is chaired by the Cathaoirleach of the Regional
Assembly and its key tasks are to advise and assist the Assembly in the
discharge of its functions.
The Regional Assemblies also have a Monitoring Committee for the implementation
of the Regional Operational Programme in the region. The general role
of this committee is to: (1) satisfy itself as to the effectiveness and
quality of the implementation of all expenditure; (2) to consider the
progress and impact of both co-financed and non-co-financed expenditure
in the region; and (3) to make recommendations to the Regional Assembly,
the relevant implementing government department at national level and
the Department of Finance.
Each Regional Assembly has a Director and a number of policy, programme
and administrative staff.
Financing of the Regional Assemblies
The Regional Assemblies are funded their costs by the Department of Finance in carrying out their functions as the managing authorities for the regional Operational Programmes. The costs of the other activities of the Regional Assemblies are funded by their constituent local authorities.
Click on the map above to find out more about a selected Regional Assembly.