Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. I acknowledge her work and her representations on the role of our local authority members in respect of to their pay and conditions specifically. I appreciate the engagement from the Senator and her colleagues in connection with the legislation.

The Senator mentioned the need for engagement with the council. We have done a good bit of that. I absolutely agree with her point. It would very interesting for the committee to hear the views of Tim O'Connor and the members of the implementation advisory group of which he is chairperson. To be fair to them, they have undertaken significant engagement with the citizens of Limerick in very exceptional circumstances throughout the pandemic. I acknowledge their work. They are very impressive. I found it striking that attendance at all the meetings was high. They were most engaged in the process. I had honour of addressing them on a number of occasions and it was most interesting indeed.

We do not want to reduce or dilute in any way the powers of our local authority members. We are not proposing to do that in any shape or form. I really value local government. It is the closest arm of government to the citizen and provides many services. We really want to strengthen and support it; we do not want to dilute it. That is why having a new role of a democratically elected executive head of a local authority will provide huge powers locally for the citizens of Limerick. That must add value. It is key that we are focused on that to ensure that the citizens of Limerick see value in this office and do not just regard it as an office. Anyone can provide an office in respect of the governance and structure. However, it is about the powers of that office and the mandate and means that go with it to ensure that it can deliver on the mandate that the people of Limerick city and county actually bring to it. That is most important. At this point, I would not see there being a reduction in the number of council members in Limerick.

The Senator mentioned the work our local authority members have done. They achieved so much through the pandemic. I recall, at the beginning of the pandemic in response to the Community Call, how quickly our 31 local authorities mobilised and supported citizens, some of whom were very vulnerable, to get key services out to them, including deliveries from shops, pharmacies, etc. I had the privilege of addressing the Dublin local authority and the team there. I could see how they were dealing with the underlying social problems that were growing through the pandemic. They had actors from Tusla and other organisations and social workers feeding into the process. It was great to see. A huge amount of respect has to go to our local authority members and what they achieved during that period.