Mr. Des Dowling:

I will ask my colleagues to address some of the wide range of questions raised by Senator Landy. We have worked closely with the AMAI but I recognise this is a significant document and a new approach. We will probably have to do more on the communications side to explain what it involves and this will happen as implementation proceeds.

The Senator referred to the question of the boundary committee. I do not have definitive information on that issue, although clearly it will have to proceed fairly quickly. I expect that the Minister will make an announcement reasonably soon because, as we noted earlier, the local elections are the end point at which the new electoral structures must be ready. It has been suggested to us that prospective members need at least 12 months in advance of the elections to prepare accordingly. This would mean that the boundary committee needs to complete its work and provide a template that can be put into legislation by the middle of next year. This is clearly a significant task but beyond setting out the timetable we have not yet taken a decision which can be communicated to the committee. I do not doubt the Minister will be making his announcement as soon as he is able to do so.

The other element is the legislation governing the structural aspects of the municipal districts and a range of other matters. The approach in this regard will be to give ourselves as much time as possible in advance of the local elections but we cannot determine whether we will be preparing one comprehensive Bill or a number of smaller Bills until we study the details of what is involved.

I will ask Mr. Conlan to answer the question on ratios but I will continue to answer some of the other questions the Senator raised. Perhaps the media have put too much emphasis on section 140. The Minister addressed this issue in the Dáil today. The practical position is that the number of uses of section 140 in very recent years has been relatively few but it is an issue to which the Mahon tribunal drew attention. A range of other measures will be introduced regarding ethics in planning sphere and other areas. In parallel with this reform process, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is considering an ethics scheme that would cover the entire public service and the Minister, Deputy Hogan, has indicated that any updating of the ethics regime as it applies to local government should fit within that broader context. The Minister has stated that restoring public confidence in the planning system is a key objective and that he will be proceeding with the implementation of the 12 actions contained in the planning review report published in June 2012. These will entail legislative change and consolidation, revised non-statutory guidelines and improved management systems in planning authorities. A range of important initiatives are being taken in this regard but most of them are not within my own area.

The regional assemblies will have a range of functions. We want to build on their successful involvement in regional planning guidelines and, as the action programme makes clear, we intend to develop an oversight role in how national policy is delivered at local level, as well as a regional perspective. The question of the EU role will be addressed in time and it will ultimately be a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. However, the general desire is that all State authorities and agencies should seek to co-ordinate around the revised regional structures as far as is practical.

I cannot provide precise details on how the funding arrangements between municipal district and county level will operate at this stage. These matters will have to be contained in the legislation. There will be a need for an aggregated budget which can be dealt with at county level. We foresee some kind of block grant arrangements being put in place but it is important to recognise that the same members will be acting at county level and at municipal district level. In a sense, the same people will be making decisions on funding.