Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To respond to something that already has been said, I welcome that there is a large attendance here today. I value local democracy and people should do so. No one should take any inferences from the large attendance and I find it strange that someone would draw people's attention to the attendance in a roundabout way.

This issue has been going on for quite some time. Most parties do not have the financial wherewithal to subvent councillors to allow them to be full-time councillors. My party is one of those parties that do not subvent their councillors or give them extra pay or free offices in which to work. Independent councillors do not have those resources either. In the context of councillors' pay, we must consider the majority of the 949 councillors but not all of them.

It is a pity we are not discussing the report. I am not being disrespectful by stating there is nothing really to discuss, as the final report will be published at the end of the first quarter. I was a councillor for three short years. From the work that I do in Dublin and across the country, I can tell the committee that councillors and local government perform an important role in the workings of this country. The Minister of State will know this to be true. People have the perception that councillors are full-time and the demands placed on them are full-time. Such work costs their careers and councillors make great sacrifices in terms of their family life.

Does the Department track the number of retirements or early retirements by councillors? I am aware of a number of councillors who have chosen not to stand in the next election because of the pressures caused by their work.

I saw the interview by the Minister of State last week. I thought what he said about more women being involved in local politics and at a county council level, as well as new Irish communities and people from other ethnic backgrounds, was good. People do not become councillors for the pay. The salary is €17,000 a year or a gross payment of €23,000. We should consider removing the allowances and paying a proper salary. The salary is an issue. I am not being ageist but if one wants younger people and a more diverse group of people to represent communities at a local level, then the current structures simply will not work and an ever increasing number of councillors will leave.

The written statement provided by the Minister of State states "This work is however proceeding and the intention is that a final report will be ready for submission by the end of quarter 1, 2019." Will he insist that the report is ready by the end of quarter 1? Will there be specific recommendations about remuneration, working conditions and so on?

He continued by stating the "final report will then be the subject of a discussion between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform". I agree with that. How long will the discussion take? Will he set a timeframe or leave it open-ended? We should be ambitious and seek the process to be concluded by the time the next group of councillors take office, after 24 May 2019.