Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions. Getting views from the bottom up is very important. Having spent most of my political life as a member of a local authority, I know the importance of the role of local government. I was delighted to hear references to reform being the "logical conclusion". There is a great deal of learning to do in the reform process, and today's meeting is important in that regard. The proposals we are discussing represent the most radical change in the structure of local government since its foundation. To get that type of radical change right must involve listening and learning as we go along.

Devolution of function has been the mantra of every local authority representative organisation for some time.

When I looked at the Local Government Bill, I noticed that 78 functions were newly devolved to the district. We might have described some of them as Mickey Mouse functions when we were councillors, but sometimes Mickey Mouse functions such as local authority parking are very important to an area. What goes in one area may not be appropriate to another and the local councillors know about this. Multiplying 78 functions that districts can decide is a positive element. Parking is important, as are other functions.

Budgeting has been working through area committees for many years but this amounted to the rubber-stamping of a budget presented to an area committee. Not enough thought was put into it. Once thought is put into it by local districts and it is ratified by the council, it will bring about better functioning and greater input from local authority members. If the legislative onus is put on the shoulders of the councillors, the onus is on them to do it.

The methodology of selection to the committees is something we must look at to ensure we do not end up in a situation in which the official has responsibility. That cannot happen because this document is about devolving more powers downwards. I thank the witnesses for bringing that point to our attention. When I read the document, my understanding was that the function was to seek and select. In seeking, one asks people to put forward names, and my interpretation was that first one seeks names and then the names come in. In ratification, local authority members cannot automatically de-select all of the community members and say they do not want any of them and they want more of their own. It was a safeguard against that, but we will examine the point.

My priority is to see the devolution of functions. I sincerely welcome the 78 devolved functions. The Minister has asked each Department to see what remits could be devolved further. That works as well at local government level in other countries.

I will put one question to the witnesses while I have their sound heads here. It concerns the funding of local government and how they spend money. Different local authorities have different methodologies for implementing the local authority property tax. If local authority houses are exempt from the property tax, some see that the local authority should bear the brunt of it and so the local authority pays. Others say it should be passed on at a rate of €2 extra per household. If the witnesses have a view on this, it would be valuable. It is important that this is streamlined. In a county or a city, one side of the road may have one methodology while the other side of the road has another. That is not good, so we must streamline it.