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

I agree completely with the Senator. There was a wider debate on councillor remuneration in the Seanad last month in terms of acknowledging the work councillors do and paying them appropriately. We should be unashamedly proud of the work they do. Sometimes that is not said enough. When I started off as a town councillor at 21, the remuneration was £125 per month. I did not care because I was passionate about it. I got involved young and I was passionate about it so it was not for the money. In 1999, there was a change and Deputies were no longer allowed to be members of councils. There was more work involved in the councils in terms of development plans and so forth. It was a very exciting time. When abolition took place, there was a different payment strand for town and county councillors. Town councillors were paid far less than county councillors even though the demands were even more precise because they were living in urban centres where there would be 30,000, 40,000 or 50,000 people. There were more demands on them. I do not want to pit urban against rural. We have many debates in the Dáil and Seanad about the importance of rural Ireland. I am an unashamed townie. There are specific demands in terms of urban Ireland that need to be addressed. That will have to be addressed. We could potentially be looking at the rejigging of county council membership if we are going to reintroduce a strand of local government to try to balance it out. It is something that could be examined but I fully agree with the Senator's point.