Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Can the Minister of State at least tell us that he has a person? Has he or she agreed to do the job? What is the deadline? The Minister of State will be aware that previous Ministers have said that it is either up to the Minister for Finance, the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, or another Minister. We must stop playing games here. These elected local authority members are entitled to know. A promise was given to them that there would be a review of their pay, remuneration and allowances. In his very first conference the Minister of State gave a commitment that he was going to set it up, and mentioned Hallowe'en. Can the Minister of State share with us what he will do in this regard?

I am also interested to hear the Minister of State's intentions around soft supports for councillors. It varies from county to county with some councillors without electronic systems or mobile phones. Others have office support within their county halls but there is an inconsistency in supports and services for elected members, who are ultimately about representing their communities.

I welcome the Minister of State's comments. They are very important and there is a lot of material that needs to be deciphered. Through all of this we need to set out what the Minister of State's vision is for local government, whether we can support him in that and what the legislative process is for bringing it about.