Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let me go through some of the points raised. On full-time councillors, the fact that what former Minister Noel Dempsey called for here this morning needs to be introduced is significant. His point was not just about remuneration. He referred to the number of statutory reports from national level that councillors are now expected to read. Many say they do not have time to read them, but the reality is that if they are not read and officials are not probed, the consequences will be felt on the ground. Mr. Dempsey said our councillors need the space to read the reports. Eighty per cent of the work might be representational but if the remaining 20% is not done properly, it can have consequences for our local areas. That is the basis on which he argued that if councillors are not given a full-time role, they will not have the time and space to read significant documents, which in many cases are based on overarching Government scenarios. It is a question of providing a counterbalance. I endorse Mr. Dempsey's call.

With respect to online disinformation, I am my party's media spokesperson. We worked on the online media safety Bill. In the past week, Coimisiún na Meán has set up the online complaints portal. There were 108 complaints received in a week and the commission is now acting on them. Therefore, we do have the systems in place. They will take time to bed in and to be reactive but the work is being done.

Councillor Finn referred to a representation ratio of 1:160,000. I am very au fait with this, having introduced a town council Bill during the previous term. The circumstances are frightening. France is a genuine example of connectivity at a granular level between citizens and their elected representatives.

Councillor Teskey referred to the mayoralty in Limerick and cited the example of the Mayor of London. During the UK Covid hearings, the Mayor of London, Mr. Sadiq Khan, spoke about the powers he had to keep the citizens safe. They looked towards him, not Mr. Boris Johnson, for implementation. Culturally, it will be a change for us in Ireland to have this kind of focal point. It will be very positive, however. I hope it goes really well because it could have a positive impact on the rest of the country.

Councillors Darcy and Conway referred to finding candidates and to people leaving the system. We are always guilty of looking towards younger candidates. Before Christmas, we had a unionist representative here who spent 14 years in the local government service in Northern Ireland and who, after leaving that service, became a councillor. She had a bank of knowledge to offer us. That is very important.

On Councillor Flynn Kennedy's point on the removal of town councils, I am a firm advocate. We have a job to do to convince people. I made a point to my great adversary, Deputy Phelan, this morning when we were speaking about this. We have moved, because of national policy, from what may be a very rural scenario to an urban-centric Ireland. Therefore, it is right that we should have councillors to represent the larger urban centres being created because of national policy.