Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending. We welcome the review that is taking place. As the Minister of State identified, it is long overdue. People here have some understanding of the role of councillor, as most of us have been through it. Regrettably, the level of work councillors have to do is lost on the public. The evolving and changing nature of councillors' work must, equally, be recognised. One of the significant challenges facing us is whether we continue to see the role of councillor as a part-time one or whether it is becoming a full-time one as we move forward. I was selected in 2004 and saw huge changes in the type of work we had to carry out. One looks at the public side of it and how we interact with them. However, the whole administrative end of it is becoming more cumbersome and logistical. There are more legal implications behind it all. Just this week, we passed the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill to provide for the office of the planning regulator. It will have an impact on local authority members and the way county development and local area plans will interact legally with regional plans, the national planning framework and how the Minister and others are directed. That whole area consumes more and more of a councillor's time.

Since 2014, an economic role has been taken on by local authorities. We then have the LCDC, which is a positive step but is insufficiently resourced. Anyone who has chaired an LCDC, especially in respect of trying to involve the Leader programme, has found it very challenging and time consuming. We are placing a greater administrative burden on local authorities. The Minister of State referred to the role of employer. As an employer, if someone came to me and said he or she wanted to run for the local elections, I would nearly tell them "Good luck, because it is not going to fit in". The Minister of State is right that it is a challenge for employers. We do not see it as a positive thing any longer to have an employee who is also a local councillor due to the complications around it. We had many issues in Wicklow where meetings are held during the day and are not family friendly. They do not suit employers because councillors have to take time off. Are we attracting people any longer, given the complexities of the role moving forward?

The Minister of State mentioned soft supports. As a councillor, I felt there was nowhere to go for independent advice. A lot of that would have been around county development plans where one might have a different view or idea but must approach the author of the report with which one disagrees. One is stuck. They know the legislative background whereas one struggles to know what powers one has and what one can or cannot do. These issues arise more and more often as national policy impacts on local policy. We have a number of challenges in relation to wind policy, for example. Councillors do not understand fully their legal role in that process. I understand, as do most of us here, the huge role a councillor plays in delivering services to his or her local community, but the public, I think, does not understand the depth of that work. The challenge for us in the review is to determine whether the role remains a part-time one. If that is the case, what supports should we provide to allow councillors to carry out their work? It is more a few points than questions for the Minister of State, perhaps.