Ms Colette Finn:

To some extent the ending of the dual mandate was the height of public sector reform at that time. In theory, there was a shift in power. Since governments have tried to reform local government, if anything they have made it worse. The 2014 legislation that did away with the town councils meant we went from 114 to 31 local authorities. How is that seen as decentralising power? Much lip service is paid to reform. There are also things that just will not work. We have to be serious about it.

We also need to get better at enforcement in Ireland. We make rules and everyone just shrugs and nothing happens. For example, there were protests in Cork in relation to the library. I spoke on television about how there are certain standards of behaviour that are acceptable in a democracy and there are certain standards that are not. The response I got from the Garda Commissioner was that we should not make martyrs of these people - like, seriously. We have to be serious about what we are going to do. I appreciate that the Senators have all given their time today and are listening to us. However, we are saying the same thing over and over. Take for instance the HSE, which is now setting up regional health boards. Instead of looking at the fact that the health boards had a problem, let us look at them and see what is not working, as opposed to setting up one big conglomerate which we can all blame. I am sorry but I wanted to say that.