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

I thank the committee for allowing me the opportunity to address it. I will not go through the speech delivered earlier and I will take it largely as read, although I will refer to a few points in it. I acknowledge the presence of the representatives of the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, and the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, in the Gallery. I also acknowledge the efforts that Members of the Oireachtas have made in both highlighting the matter of councillor pay and remuneration and the interest in this interim report. I thank Ms Sara Moorhead, senior counsel, for the work she has done so far and the work she will do over the next number of months in producing the full report. I should also acknowledge the efforts of officials in the section of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government dealing with local government. I acknowledge that from the start, my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, has, with his Department, been a key stakeholder in this process in ensuring Ms Moorhead was appointed and the terms of reference were agreed. They also ensured the review process got under way.

The interim report is short and it deals primarily with aspects of remuneration. As Ms Moorhead outlines, much of her work over the coming months will reference the role and function of elected members.

In her interim report, she also outlined the fact that, in order to put a precise figure on the remuneration package for councillors in the future, she will have to do the core work in respect of the role and function of elected members. Notwithstanding this, she gives a pretty clear indication of her train of thought on the issue. She accepts that the current system of councillor pay and remuneration in its fullest extent, including allowances and expenses, is in serious need of modernisation and streamlining. She indicates a number of matters Senators, Deputies and councillors would have raised with me in recent years in terms of looking at the full role that local authority members play and how that should be connected in the future with the broader public sector, including consideration of the PRSI entitlements of councillors with reference to pensions and so on. I look forward to her full report in the spring of 2019. I reiterate my intention that Ms Moorhead's report be acted upon. Members here will probably highlight again a fact of which I am acutely aware, namely that many of those elected to local authorities and particularly younger people, are considering leaving because of the demands on them, the time pressures they experience and the fact that they feel that they are not being remunerated appropriately for the valuable role they perform.

I will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible in the time available.