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

As regards the powers, the scope and the efficiency of the representation of the municipal districts, the Minister of State alluded in his answers to Deputy O'Dowd that the director of services can do this or engineers over multiple areas can do X, Y, or Z. However, we are missing that special focus. Directors of services are dealing with macro issues. The Minister of State is aware of this as a long-serving public representative. The directors of services may be the de factomanagers, although they are not called that any more, for a large urban area. The director of services is specifically dealing with a brief. There will be directors of services for housing and directors of services for finance and that will be their day-to-day job. They are not specifically thinking about the development of an urban centre. For them, it is one or two meetings a month that they have to attend. What is missing is the role, for example, at town clerk level, which would allow that special focus to happen at an administrative level. Many councillors are saying that they do not have that synergy between themselves and the executive because of the fact the town clerk level has been eroded out of the system. While directors of services are exemplary and dedicated public officials and deal with macro issues - for example, the development of a key piece of infrastructure such as a road or a social amenity - that is the input they have. However, we are missing this other level.

In terms of acknowledging the deficiency, as the paper does, much of its focus is on the reasons for getting rid of town councils, and stating that there were compelling reasons for doing this, rather than on dealing with where we are in terms of the over-centralisation of powers as regards local government, which the Minister of State mentioned. The paper sets out the compelling reasons for dispensing with town councils, including limited powers and limited resources, but on that basis, one would get rid of county councils.

Another reason given was the exclusion of more than 200,00 residents of town suburbs. This could be resolved by extending boundaries. We did this in Navan. We acknowledged that in the boom period a large number of people were not represented by the town council structure. We went to the then Minister with responsibility for local government, John Gormley, and there was an extension of the boundaries so that the administrative powers of the town reflected the real population base of the town. As I said, acknowledging a deficiency and then applying the solution of just getting rid of something was the wrong move. A solution could have been found in respect of this.

The paper states that expanding boundaries would have negatively impacted on county councils. Extending the boundary did not impact negatively on my county council. If anything, it gave people who lived in the suburbs of the town a real sense of engagement with their municipal town hall because they knew where to go. It addressed many of the problems that existed.

Budgets are a significant issue. Without financial autonomy, councils cannot address the issues that people want to see addressed and are nothing more than glorified talking shops, as many local councillors will agree. Let us leave politics aside, municipal areas such as Carlow, Navan and Cork need financial autonomy to address, in a real and substantive way, issues such as roads, housing and social amenities. Social amenities are a major issue. We have created new population areas and people in them are looking to their councillors to provide the social amenities needed.

If the budgets only tinker with the issue and financial autonomy is retained at county council level, there will be no impact. Will the retention of income from local property tax, LPT, within an administrative area rather than at county level be addressed? The Taoiseach said he was open to looking at that at a county level. I would bring it down even further to the town level. On the retention of funds raised within a major urban space, parking charges in a large town can raise a couple of million euro which could be used for the enhancement of the local area. When I raised this issue previously, Mr. Lemass asked if people coming into a town from the country are not entitled to see parking income being spent elsewhere in the county. On that logic, the people of Meath who come into the centre of Dublin to shop should receive income from Dublin City Council to be spent in Navan. That argument does not make any sense.

On the setting of rates, the Minister of State and I both came through the local government system. Different towns are under different pressures in different parts of counties. Having financial autonomy in areas such as rates would allow major urban areas to deal with existing circumstances.

The paper refers to the benefit of a single financial authority helping to improve the management of debts. I saw in my own case a county council that was mired in debt while the town council administrative area was running a surplus. The financial model was sound as it allowed the town council, an autonomous body that was not mired in debt, to go to the banks and arrange finance and loans to develop social amenities such as theatres and parks. The case made in the paper can be unpicked when we consider examples such as the one I described.

I will address the issue of powers. The paper addresses the shortcomings and weaknesses in the former town council arrangements. It states they made only a marginal input into the overall local government system of governance, service provision and representation. That is a shocking statement. During my 17 years as a councillor, I worked on town plans and county council plans. I saw many positive things happen because of good town development plans. It was good governance and we were able to achieve far greater things. If, by virtue of the national plans the Government is introducing, we are working towards greater urbanisation, we should have a system of government that reflects this objective. We need to strengthen the local government system to give these large urban areas the proper local governance they deserve. People living in major towns - Deputy O'Dowd referred to Drogheda - will engage first and foremost in their local area.

Rows break out every month at the plenary meetings of county councils about where budgets are being spent. That is because major urban centres have not been allowed autonomous budgets. This is becoming a major issue and urban areas are under pressure as a result. Engagement with the Local Authority Members' Association, LAMA, and the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, has been suggested. There is a disconnect somewhere. I met representatives of the AILG several times this year, including last week in Buswells Hotel and in this House, and I was told the paper was a misrepresentation of the AILG's views. The association indicated it was prepared to see if things bedded down over a five year period. Perhaps the Minister of State was given a different message. I am highlighting what was said to me. The AILG referred to the workload that would arise if a cohort of councillors was removed. Councillors may be telling the Minister of State there is no problem and the system does not need to be changed. However, the councillors who were removed as a result of the abolition of town councils cannot say anything because they are no longer in place.

It is most important to engage with the residents of these areas, for example, people who cannot see an improvement in their estate or town because of the redistribution of funding as a result of the new system. The key point is that councillors with their arses on seats in county councils will be always be happy. It is those who no longer have a seat that will give out. We should stand up for the people living in the towns where councils were abolished. If all parties, including the AILG, were in the same room when this issue was being discussed, we could have an honest debate about proper local governance in the country.

The Minister of State is 100% right on the issue of mayors. There is no point providing for the direct election of mayors - and I am speaking from one politician to another - if we do not give them proper powers. On the question of whether directly elected mayors should have executive powers at the same level as county managers and chief executives, mayors in other parts of Europe operate like a mini-Taoiseach. They appoint a mini-cabinet and councillors have portfolios such as responsibility for social amenities, housing, etc. We could do much more in local governance. Senator Boyhan is right about empowering councillors and giving them real responsibility. If they mess up, local people will know who messed up or made a hames of the delivery of services in the town in question. The same cannot be said of an official because no one ever sees officials. Let us roll the dice, empower councillors and give them the power to deliver services. If they make a mess of delivering services and amenities for their towns, they will be held accountable and lose office at the next election. Councillors can blame officials when things go wrong and take the praise when things go right. It works both ways and we should look at that also.

I will finish shortly. I am passionate about this issue.