Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Mr. McCarthy's comments about the career progression from county councillor to Deputy or Senator are interesting. To me, they are very different jobs although people often cannot take themselves out of local issues. We still have national politicians getting very much involved in local government issues and we have local government politicians getting involved in national politics. We need better separation in that. My own council meets on a Monday as well because of that dual mandate. You learn something every day.

In 2014 when the town councils were abolished and were amalgamated into county councils I remember thinking that the workload as a town councillor compared with the workload as a county councillor seemed to really ramp up with the amount that had to be dealt with. I often hear from councillors that the workload has increased considerably in the last couple of years. Has Mr. McCarthy engaged with the members on that as well? Is that still the case? When someone begins a new job it can initially be overwhelming and then one finds one's balance. Is it still the case that the workload has massively increased?