John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy's suggestion is not unreasonable. I will bring it to the attention of Ms Moorhead but ultimately she operates independently of me, as must be the case. I will ask Mr. O'Leary to relay the message regarding timeframes for submissions and the surveying of councillors.

I will now address a question from the Chairman. Councillors are accessible 24-7. The provision for councillors' laptops, phones and printers is not universal across the country, which is one of the issues that will hopefully be considered by the review. Senator O'Sullivan raised the issue of vouched versus unvouched expenses. The days of unvouched political expenses are over forever. That said, Ms Moorhead might say something different in her report. Politically, they are gone. There was a lot of flack from councillors when they did not get an increase in their unvouched expenses. No politician will be increasing unvouched expenses for councillors or any other politician into the future. Those days are done. There will be fully vouched system for councils similar to that for the Oireachtas. Prior to my appointment as Minister of State I was audited two years in a row. It is a time-intensive operation getting everything in order but everything was in order. This is the future for councillors as well. Not only will expenses be vouched, councillors will be subject to audit to ensure they are adhering to the rules.

I thank the committee for its involvement. I am sure we will have further engagement on this issue. The local government Bill was approved by Cabinet during the week. I urge all members to get stuck into it. I understand the committee has had some discussion on the Bill but there are important changes in it relating to Cork and Galway, in particular, and to the new joint structures for cities and towns across county boundaries that need to be implemented in advance of new local authorities being elected next year.