Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Then we would be totally submerged. Second, and I hope I have made myself clear, councillors should be paid full time. It is a full-time job. This idea of doing it voluntarily in a world where people are trying to pay mortgages precludes younger working people from taking up this position. The advice issue is similar. I fully support that.

Regarding regional assemblies, they are the hidden body. I do not know much about them and I am a long-time politician. They are selected in a way through the councils. I do not know how coherent the geographic area is. We know one thing. Due to regional tariffs, particularly in the planning, as we have often discussed, by the time Government had laid down its criteria on how many houses were to be built and had got it to the regional authority, when it came to the local authorities they had no more power in reality. Some absolutely farcical consequences have arisen as a result.

As to funding, I do not think too many local taxes could be raised in this country other than the ones we have. We are delusional to think we are going to sell that one. On the other hand, the present method of funding is the most opaque and has been proven by study after study to be totally unfair. If central funding is to be given, it has to be open and transparent and it has to be fair, something it is not. Funding for local authorities is like the Nile Delta. Virtually all the money comes from Government. It splits up into streams in various Departments that give it for specific projects and then it all joins out in services to the people. We need to look at this. Much more of the funding should come in one big block and, subject to good decision-making, it should be at the discretion of local authority to decide priorities.

We have become devils at both European and national level for microprescriptions. I will give a simple example. There was a recent prescription that footpaths should not be extended beyond the 50 km speed limit. Somebody probably thought in the Custom House or somewhere that this was a very reasonable provision. I can think, within my own parish, of a place where we went halfway out to a football pitch and we cannot go the rest of the way because it is not within the 50 km speed limit area. In other case, the 50 km does not go as far as across a bridge. A quarter of a mile down the road, there is a school, a Garda barracks, a community centre, a small football pitch and the main community facilities, and we cannot connect the footpaths in the places people most likely will walk. Why? It is because of this universal rule that has been laid down that you cannot go outside the 50 km. Then you will have to think of some genius way of going to some other fund to try to get it. We need to give more discretion. If local authorities then make a mess of it, let them be accountable to the local people. There is this idea that on every microdecision we up here have to be accountable. We should tell the people to get onto their councillors and sort it.