Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As politicians, we are conscious of the fact that there has been a considerable democratic deficit in some of the work that has been going on. I subscribe to the view that people who go out and get elected for a particular purpose, in rural or urban areas, should have an input into any activities, supports and projects that are under way in their area. They should be part of the decision-making process because they have gone through the pain barrier of actually eliciting support for the values and projects that are coming through the local authority or local community sectors. We can harness people together. The bottom-up approach will be retained, the democratic input through the local government sector will be present and hopefully, all the co-ordination that is lacking at present will come into play through the democratic process and through local government, which ultimately is the vehicle at local level that is accountable, through the national audit service, to the taxpayer.