Mr. Paul Lemass:

That is a separate debate into which we could get.

The terms of reference of the local electoral area, LEA, reconfiguration will also focus on large towns like Bray with a view to having a tight municipal district drawn around the town. One would expect to see Bray having its own municipal district on foot of that.

On fundraising and the local property tax, LPT, the Thornhill report is on the table. The Department of Finance will review the process in 2018 and we will be part of that. Issues such as the baseline will be on the table as part of that process.

The other major source of funding for local authorities is rates. I spoke to the committee about them several weeks ago. We believe there is significant potential to make that instrument work more effectively. Once we have that sorted, at that point we can say definitively whether there is an ongoing deficit. However, we are leaving €150 million on the table which has to be fixed first.

The point about empowering elected members rather than going to town councils will also be touched on in the report due after Christmas on other aspects of leadership of local government and political leadership. The Council of Europe welcomed the changes introduced in 2014 and highlighted the fact they had eliminated duplication of functions and representation.

As regards direct contact points, I agree there may be opportunities to standardise the service approach across municipal districts. It is certainly something on which we will look to engage with local authorities.