Ms Andrea Dalton:

As cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council, i is my great honour and privilege to address this committee.

Last October, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted a report which concluded that Ireland ranks only above Hungary and Moldova when it comes to power in local authorities and councils. The fact that local government in Ireland is the third weakest in Europe, out of 46 European states, underpins and highlights the pressing need to review our system of local government. The report said that though Ireland is a solid democracy, it remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe and there is still a lot to be done before self-government in Ireland is on a par with other European countries. I welcome the fact that this committee is committed to studying the areas of concern in this report, as well as the recommendations that have been put forward to address them.

In reading the transcripts of previous sessions, I note that many of these concerns have been consistently and thoroughly highlighted by nearly all contributors. Therefore, the facts of the case have already been established. In that light, I will take a more personal approach and bring to the attention of the committee some of the concerns I have as a councillor. The first of those is accurate representation.

As those present may be aware, Carlow is the second smallest county in Ireland, with a population of just under 62,000. The population is almost exactly 50% male and 50% female. There are a few more females. Actually, there are 100 females to every 99 males in Carlow. Our county council consists of 18 local representatives. If it truly reflected and represented the population it serves, we would have a council that is made up of nine males and nine females. Unfortunately, as with many other councils, this is not the case. Only two, or 11%, of our councillors are female. In fact, when I was co-opted in 2017, I was the only female. I had 17 male counterparts at the time. When I look at the hard-working community and voluntary groups in Carlow, and I am sure the same is the case throughout the country, I can see that there are so many capable, committed and strong women at the helm who would make excellent councillors. Yet, this does not seem to translate into females putting themselves forward for election.

I would like to see this committee carrying out targeted research asking the women we all know as powerhouses in our local communities why they do not consider running for election. Then, maybe we can address the barriers that are found. Similarly, 11% of our population comprises non-Irish citizens, but this is not reflected in our chamber either. The role of councillor has evolved into a full-time role and many of the contributors in this space have stated their belief that it is virtually impossible to have a full-time job and be a councillor as well. Therefore, that excludes another cohort of people from different professions. We need to examine the possibility of the role of councillor being remunerated as a full-time role to encourage a wider cross-section of society, or to look at legislation that enables full-time employees to take time off in order to work as councillors.

Another issue I would like to raise is that of security and privacy. I am a public representative. I put myself forward to represent the people of Carlow and to work for them for the betterment of my town and county. However, my family has not done that. They are private individuals. The same goes for the families of every elected representative. As politics has changed greatly in the past couple of years, it has become a harder place and more prone to non-peaceful protests. I worry that my home could be a target for protesters. If that were to happen, and if my children were exposed to that, I would seriously have to consider my position as a councillor. Everyone's home should be sacrosanct.

The impact of social media is another matter that I would like to address. Online disinformation and misinformation are endemic and Government action to address this is overdue. Social media brings many benefits, but it is also a hotbed of misinformation and is a means to troll and bully people. To counteract this, we need to tackle online anonymity in order to reduce abuse and increase accountability. Legislation should be enacted in order to oblige platforms to remove false or inciting information in a timely manner. The funding of local government also needs to be addressed to ensure funding is sufficient and equitable. I ask in particular to look at the mechanism of rates to fund local government, which is outdated and does not reflect new ways of doing business online.