Mr. Paul Lemass:

I hear the Deputy's point. In 2013 Navan town council had a total budget of €9.2 million, over 40% of which was through the county demand charge. In other words, the service was being provided, even after the boundary extension, by the county. The Deputy also raised another point regarding boundaries and this is an issue that I raised in my opening statement with regard to the reintroduction of town councils. Many towns have spilled over their boundaries now. The question one would have to ask in the context of towns like Athlone or Drogheda is whether one would introduce the town council for all of Drogheda or just the bits that are in County Louth or in County Meath and likewise with Athlone. Similar issues arise with other towns around the country.

The issue of customer service was also raised. There is a range of operations out there in terms of how customers are served. It is not a uniform system but local authorities are working very hard to ensure as wide a range of services as possible is available at municipal district level. Additional resources were also mentioned. Additional resources mean increasing costs but part of the goal is to operate as efficiently as possible. If it can be done efficiently through the county, we would see that as a justification for persevering with the existing structures.

Deputies also referred to rates and suggested that if a business or town was having a difficult year, some accommodation would be made. That principle applies equally in the county. I am very aware that many counties engage with rate payers who are having difficulty regarding payment schedules, payment plans and such like. I touched on that a while ago when I was here talking about the commercial rates Bill that is coming through. That is certainly something that can and continues to exist. I also mentioned when I was before the committee previously the proposal for differential rates. The new rates legislation will provide for a situation where, if a county wishes to do so, it can adopt a differential rate to give a rate reduction in certain areas to meet certain objectives of national policy or the local development plan. That opportunity is there.

I have already spoken about the LEA process. That process is now up and running and has a timeframe of six months. That process is based on addressing municipal districts and the urban counties that do not have such districts across the entire country. If a commission were to be set up and were to identify a town which should have a town council, what would that do for the municipal district? How can the committee carve out municipal districts and local electoral areas in a county if it is unclear as to whether there will be a town council performing some or all the functions that the county used to perform? That is the uncertainty. That process will take six months. It was signed today so by the middle of June, we will have an outcome from that process. To entertain this while that process is ongoing would make the work of that committee impossible.

Regarding budgetary control, I am aware that some local authorities have set up strategic policy committees, SPCs, to address finance, budgets and related matters. It would be entirely within the gift of local authority members to set up a specific committee to focus on such issues if they so wished. We would be quite supportive of that because it is important that members would take a close interest in the budget and how it is being spent.

In terms of the European model, most have the town plus the hinterland. In France there has been a big move towards the inter-communal model. While they might still have the very small councils, most of the functions are being performed at a broader regional level. There is a 2013 Council of Europe report on this which very much points in that direction. I am not familiar-----