Mr. Robert McDermott:

I thank the Chair for the invitation to address the Seanad Public Consultation Committee. I compliment him and his fellow members on their initiative in hearing the views of members of local authorities, their representative bodies and members of the public on the future of local democracy in Ireland.

I am a first-time councillor elected in 2019 and I am running again. I hope the good people in north Offaly will re-elect me on 7 June. The last five years have been a huge learning experience for me. It has been rewarding but also quite challenging. An issue that has arisen for me, and one I wish to address, is around the format of council meetings and their sub-committees. At the municipal level, there is a section prior to the main meeting which is held in committee. I find this especially useful and if this were to be introduced in the main council meetings, I think it would help both the executive and councillors to discuss critical issues and reach a consensus on prominent issues before the main meeting. I believe this would make the main meeting more productive.

As for the main county meetings, everything that is going to be discussed at the meetings should be available to the corporate policy group. The members of the corporate policy group should have all the reports one week prior to their meetings. Once the corporate policy group has had its meeting, the agenda and the accompanying report should be made available immediately to all councillors, including motions. This will allow all members to have a week to prepare for the main council meeting. The council would then have the opportunity to discuss the agenda with their fellow councillors and prepare adequate responses and questions prior to the main meetings. At present, some councils only share their agenda on Friday afternoon prior to a meeting on Monday. This is hampering councillors in their work and it does not afford them adequate time to prepare or do research. The current practice of emailing councillors corporate reports or presentations after the meeting should cease. These documents should be dispatched immediately with the agenda and if they are not available, they should be presented at the next meeting.

I accept that these suggestions will cause upset and readjustment in the short term but they will lead to much more productive council meetings in the long term. The effect of the current system is that councillors are not adequately prepared for meetings, which can lead to resentment, dissatisfaction and, eventually, to disillusionment. It can lead us to feel as if we are being taken for granted. The current system is not advantageous but the fault is with the system and the timeline of communication by the executive of county councils.

Councillors should be able to work in a healthy environment and represent without fear or favour. Issues, reports and presentations, whether minor or major, are of equal importance to councillors who wish to give their best and be able to participate in meetings, rather than acting as observers because they have had insufficient time since receiving reports.

These suggestions should be uniformly adopted across the country. With the upcoming local elections, now is an opportune time to reorganise council meetings. These points are from my own observations and conversations I have had with long-standing councillors. Gabhaim buíochas leis an choiste.