Mr. Denis Conlan:

The ultimate decisions will be for the local authority as to what is the best and most efficient use of the buildings. Clearly, there will be need for the municipal district council to have a meeting place and there will be an identity for the district. It will be a wider identity in that effectively it will involve the town being joined by its natural hinterland. However, it will be a matter for the councils in each case to decide, as part of their own financial dispensation and so forth, what is the best use to make of those buildings. As for the staff, the staff of all town councils will become part of the unified staff. As I noted just now, on the administrative side the proposal is for full integration into a countywide administrative structure. As for how things go with regard to numbers and similar matters, that is part of the wider process. It already is clear that the local government sector has reduced staffing more than any other part of the public service and the Minister himself dealt with this issue at some length today during Question Time in the Dáil. While a further reduction in staff of 500 is scheduled, it is clear they all will be managed within the framework of the Croke Park agreement.