Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The hearts of city and county councillors across the country are being broken yet again. As former councillors, we all know that piles of reports from many agencies are heaped on councillors and they do not have time to read them. This amendment would require the LDA to furnish each local authority chair or mayor with a report. One would expect that report to be short and deal, in the main, with the relationship between the LDA and its work in that local authority area. In many cases, that report would state that there was nothing to report. However, it would mean that the elected members of, for example, Kilkenny or Fingal County Councils or Dublin City Council would receive a report, as they do from the managers, but specifically concerning the work of the LDA and how it relates to that council. That would mean that members would be more likely to read and digest it.

I am aware that the Minister of State is not going to accept the amendment, but I urge him to consider it. Our councillors are already heavily burdened with large volumes of paperwork, much of which is not relevant to their functional area. This would be a simple way of doing that. It would also ensure that the LDA treats all local authorities with whom it engages with the appropriate level of attention.