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

I thank the Vice Chairman for allowing me to comment first because I must leave shortly to attend another event.

I welcome the Minister of State to the meeting. He has extensive experience of local government because he and I have discussed the future of his area and mine on many occasions. I know the difficulties he experienced in Waterford and, regrettably, they are exactly the same difficulties that I have with the programme that he has outlined.

I recognise the effort that is being made to engage constructively. My point is that the town of Drogheda, as designated by the Central Statistics Office, had a population of more than 40,000 when the last census was taken. Even though there are more people in the town of Drogheda than there are in counties Longford and Leitrim, there is no local government structure in the town. Counties Leitrim and Longford have a full administrative structure, including county managers, senior engineers and planning authorities. We do not have that in Drogheda. We are part of a county that has a rapidly growing population as a consequence of the Government's decision to designate towns like Drogheda and Dundalk as regional growth centres. I believe they are different from the municipal districts and extended municipal districts that are designated in the Minister of State's papers. There are huge issues attaching to local control and decision-making in Drogheda. I will not talk about Dundalk because I do not live there.

I ask the Minister of State to take it from today's discussion that there is a need to review the position in respect of towns with populations in excess of 40,000. When Galway was made a city, there were 37,000 souls living in it. Even though Drogheda now exceeds that number, it is proposed that it will merely have a municipal district council. The increased powers that the Minister of State intends to give to such councils are not good enough for the people of Drogheda. The current proposal is not acceptable. The problem is that between 4,000 and 5,000 people who live in east Meath were included in the town of Drogheda for the purposes of the census. Given that there is extant planning permission for over 5,000 homes to the north of Drogheda, the population of Drogheda will exceed 50,000, which is the level needed to be designated as a city, in the coming years. An urban area becomes a city when its population reaches 50,000. I understand from the CSO that the development in the County Louth part of the Drogheda area that will happen over the coming five or six years will bring the population of Drogheda to 50,000 by 2023. Drogheda will be a city, in effect, at that stage.

I appreciate that the Minister of State and I have discussed this issue previously. I do not expect him to give me a decision today. Perhaps discussions between elected members and departmental officials could be opened on foot of this meeting to prepare for Drogheda to acquire city status. I refer to the special local government reforms that will need to take place separately from the joined-up Meath-Louth proposal that currently exists. I do not think that will deal with the problem. I welcome the new powers being proposed by the Minister of State to strengthen local government. A town that is going to be a city within ten years and has been designated by the Government as a regional centre must have the capacity to govern itself and be accountable to itself. This involves having a manager and an engineer resident in the town. They need to be accountable and responsible to the local council. The municipal council does not hold the officials to account, and that is what is missing in all of this. I do not mean any disrespect to anybody when I say that. The problem is that there are no officials with direct responsibility for the area. I do not say that as a criticism of the manager, who is excellent in every way.

I thank the Chairman for his indulgence and I apologise for having to leave. I ask the Minister of State to respond to the important points I have made.