Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies for their supportive comments. Anybody who has had experience of local government at that level appreciates its value. We should strive to restore it. If, as Deputy Cassells says, there is pushback in this Dáil for whatever number of months and if we advance this Bill, whoever forms a future Government would put this back on the agenda and it is important for that reason.

There were a number of specific questions. The structure of the Bill is simple. It repeals the abolition and restores the powers that used to exist in the old town councils. The council would be a rating authority, a planning authority and so forth. It is not necessary to specify that because it simply does away with the abolition. That is what the Bill does.

In terms of who sets the boundaries, I am conscious of how fraught such an issue can be, and not only in Drogheda between Louth and Meath. There have been significant court cases between members of the same party in respect of Waterford and Kilkenny, for example. Perhaps it is to do with the hurling tradition, but there are fierce protectors of Rosbercon, which is genuinely part of New Ross but is on the other side of the River Barrow. The closer one gets to a county boundary, the more definitive the protection will be. I was going to tell a joke about the boundary of Wexford and Kilkenny, but I had better not. They are real issues and I suggest that we give that role to the local government commission. We all have seen situations where odd decisions were made for particular reasons that were pushed by an executive. Deputy Cassells talked about Tara Mines. I recall that when Wexford borough was extended, the main industrial base on the south side of it was excluded, in an irrational way, because it was said that it would impoverish the county council to lose the industrial estate. We need to remove that and make rational developmental decisions for the natural hinterland of a town to grow.

Regarding whether 5,000 should be the threshold, that is entirely a matter of debate and I am open to suggestions. The Deputy referred to New Ross. New Ross is one of the oldest existing urban towns in Ireland. It was established by the Normans when they arrived and first settled in this country 800 years ago. The Ros Tapestry depicts the establishment of the municipal boundary.