Mr. Adam Teskey:

I concur with the last speaker in particular. I am in a unique position in that Limerick will try to pave the way towards the creation of a new democracy, namely, a return of power to the people.

Uisce Éireann is one of the biggest instruments hindering local representatives in County Limerick. When we need to make a phone call we have to ring a Dublin number. We are not allowed to ring the local area office or local area manager anymore. In my constituency we have had a boil water notice for more than 12 months. I have tried to contact an official from Uisce Éireann three times and I have left three voicemails for him. He has not yet phoned me back in relation to boil water notices affecting my area in Askeaton. That is not good enough.

The Mid-Western Health Board is gone. Central government has taken everything from local politicians. As a member of the Fine Gael Party, I have brought this up with my party but nobody listened to me. Maybe someone at this platform will listen to me. It is sickening for me, as a public representative who meets the public everyday, to look in the eye someone who comes to me with a problem, be it with Uisce Éireann, the health system or An Garda Síochána where morale is so low, and not to be able to give a response. We are unable to hold anyone accountable on the other end of the phone. It is back to the executive-style functions of the local authorities whereby we have little or no direct say in local government, even as local councillors. The executive function has too much power. All we have locally is power over planning and roads, and that is nearly it. That is a sad reflection of where we are in 2024. This country was formed for independence, democracy and the right of the citizen to speak. That has been devolved from us.

I ask Senators to take on board what I have said. I presume some of my colleagues will echo my sentiments. I strongly believe that we need to return power to local councils in a constructive way. I hope the directly elected mayor will offer some hope and shape that for the citizens of Limerick. It goes far but not far enough to say to a person that we will have interaction with the Government only three times a year. That is not good enough. The directly elected mayor needs to be able to return power to the local person in Limerick. We should see that as a pilot, whereby we test it out and return power in a democratic fashion so that it is exercised with accountability to the people. As a councillor, I appreciate the interactions I have had with Senators today and I thank the committee Cathaoirleach, Senator Daly, for giving us this time to record our sentiments on this platform.