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

I thank the Chairman for facilitating me by allowing me to speak first. I must leave because I am attending the funeral of a former councillor who served in Navan for 16 years. As the parish priest said last night, the councillor epitomised everything that was good about public service. On the morning that is in it, I am glad to be able to speak on this subject matter.

I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I agree with him on his dedication in addressing the matter, bringing forward a range of proposals and engaging with Senators, the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, and councillors' representative groups.

I was elected as a councillor in 1999. In the intervening 19 years the role of councillor has evolved greatly. When I was elected as a councillor, there was no salary, but there was a payment for attending meetings. The point was made that the motivation in being elected was not remuneration but public service. No councillor has ever gone looking, cap in hand, for money because councillors are dedicated to serving their local communities. That is the motivation, but the nature of the workload has changed massively. The abolition of the dual mandate has proved very successful. What people wanted to see being achieved in Deputies no longer being able to sit on local authorities has come to fruition. They can now see the differences between parliamentarians and local councillors and go to councillors as their first port of call in dealing with a local issue. As a result of urbanisation during the boom, councillors are seen as having much broader scope when it comes to social policy and the development of an area, particularly in the context of development plans. The national plans brought forward in the Oireachtas have an impact on local councillors who have to be adept at dealing with them at local authority and regional assembly level. They give a huge amount of time to them and make a huge effort to be involved.

Councillors are subjected to the same visceral scrutiny by the public on social media as national politicians. We should be cognisant of this. They do not receive remuneration similar to that of a Senator or a Deputy, but they are attacked when things go wrong at local level. We should also speak about this as it is having an impact on our ability to attract new people into public service at local government level. If we want to see local communities being served well, we need to have a system under which we, as parliamentarians, can attract new people to serve their communities. This is tied with the issue the Minister of State is addressing. The scope of the work of councillors has been broadened. We see new economic sides being attached to it and there is also their involvement in planning. We have to be aware of this.

The Minister of State has said he wants the review to report within five months of its commencement. He has also said its report will be submitted thereafter to the Government for its consideration, with a view to producing a clear direction in advance of the local elections which are to be held in May next year. There is, however, no commitment to the introduction of the scheme, an issue I want the Minister of State to address because it is important. We might have a clear direction, but there is no guarantee that the outcome of the review will be implemented. Is there a commitment between the Minister of State and the Minister for Finance to implement the recommendations made not only on pay but also on the provision of supports?

Councillors are not just talking about an increase in salary, they are talking about the functional supports that allow them to provide services to their constituents. I would like the Minister of State to address that matter.