Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This goes back to how we view local government. We are placing this pressure on small businesses in this country and councillors are forced into a position because of the terrible lack of central funding. The small businesses are picking up the bill for the provision of services in this country. Ordinary householders have paid a local property tax and thought they would get a better service but the general purpose grant was taken away. Nobody is ending up any better and in many instances, people are worse off.

My final questions relate to staff numbers. Since 2008, we have seen staff numbers across councils fall by approximately 25%, from 37,500 to 28,000. In my own county, with 180,000 living there, we have one of the lowest staff to population ratios in the country. How will this be addressed in coming years? How will the required staff be recruited for the provision of services? If we ask any county council member or member of the general public about the provision of community facilities, we know the staff are simply not there. Could I have a general comment on that?