Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman because I was in first and had not developed a few of my ideas at the time. In respect of a point made by Deputy Flanagan about lack of trust in councillors, I return to my opening remark. No matter what configuration one has in local government and there are many good ideas in the document, none of them seem to be predicated on reducing the number of councillors so why should we reduce the number of councillors by such a huge number in the context of Ireland having smaller number of councillors per capita than most of Europe. I cannot get my head around what these municipal councils will be like. I spent 22 years as a councillor at urban and county level and know what a town council is and what it is to be a county councillor. They are two totally different job descriptions. They involve different types of work, engagement with the public and demand. Clearly, this municipal council will not be just like the area council and will be a different animal. My town of Listowel has nine town councillors but has not had a county councillor since I was elected to the Seanad in 2007. That happened for unusual reasons, much of them to do with the political dynamism of the place and family dynasties. Will we have a situation where there will be a Listowel municipal council without a single councillor from the town and where the chairman of this new council could live 30 miles away, as do some councillors in the electoral district at the moment? That does not add up to my idea of what a municipal council should be like. If it is to be based around the municipal unit, surely the election process must be weighted to ensure the municipal town remains at the core of the municipal district?