Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Senator. The Government put that to the people, they gave a result and the Government accepted it. The other reform proposed by the Government concerned the power of Oireachtas committees, which was put to the people. That was turned down but to state there was no reform is not accurate.

The other point I wish to make concerns the question of local government reform. One major reform that took place was the introduction of a highly unpopular tax, namely, the property tax. However, that tax put on a statutory basis an income for local government that would be independent of the tax system and would be based on property values locally. One thing I would like to see a commission examining is the entire question of local government reform. There have been political experiments but I do not believe the last one has worked particularly well. I certainly believe that large towns, which have lost their corporations or councils, are now at a major disadvantage because they have been subsumed into a county-based structure. Moreover, most people do not know the local councillors any more because they go off to the county town, nobody knows what is happening and there is no local debate on local issues. While I acknowledge it was unproductive in some respects, it involved the community. Politics is about everybody having a voice, everybody being aware of what is going on and helping people to participate.

If an electoral commission were to compile reports on local government reform or other issues, it would have the necessary stature to ensure that such reports would be of the best quality. Commissions are separate from and independent of Government and it is they which should be charged with having such reports compiled.

There is a great deal of potential for change. I welcome our guests and I thank them for sharing their professional views with us. Ultimately, however, the most pressing reform required relates to the electoral register. Most of the previous speakers referred to that issue. Apart from An Post, the only other entity which might be able to maintain the electoral register in an extremely capable fashion is the Office of the Revenue Commissioners because it has information on where citizens live. The days of local authorities being responsible for maintaining the electoral register are long gone.