Mr. Séamus Morris:

I was elected to Nenagh Town Council in 2004 and served as a town councillor for ten years until, disastrously, town councils were abolished. I have served as a county councillor since 2009, serving as a dual councillor in the period between 2009 and 2014. I was elected on what was a single issue at the time. It was a roadway project through a council estate. The road is now long built but the ability for anyone to put themselves forward for election based on local issues is all but gone. The last Nenagh Town Council budget, in 2003, was for €3.2 million to be spent in the town, decided by councillors from the town, elected by the people of the town. That is gone now, with nine councils in Tipperary amalgamated into one council of 40 members, down from 113. It was a tough task for the incoming CEO and management team. To be fair, they have performed incredibly well.

What have we lost, though? A recent Council of Europe report has stated that local government in Ireland lacks funding, with only 40% of funding being allocated from central funds. Councillors have lost health service, education services, driver licence services and now, incredibly, water management services. More importantly, we closed down the local area offices, where people had daily interaction with the council, only for them to be replaced by a phone service. We have lost the ability to repair our own houses. We have lost council apprenticeships. The CEOs have too much power, with less and less power in the hands of elected representatives, who go to council meetings mostly to nod-and-wink CEO decisions through.

What is more shocking, though, is the deferral of most decisions to unelected consultants, with most decisions at council meetings needing to go to consultants to first give their expensive opinion. A recent FOI request I made on the cost of consultations for capital projects in Tipperary from 2019 to 2022 was for €11.2 million, with local social housing in the Nenagh MD area costing €31,000 per house in consultant fees. If we had to change a light bulb in the council chamber, we would have to consult a consultant. That is not local democracy.

The end result of all this is lack of interest from our constituents, with little or no engagement in local area plans or Part 8 applications and, worryingly, fewer and fewer people going out to vote. The problem is more pronounced in urban areas, with very poor voting turnout at local elections and even less enthusiasm for local candidates, with political parties struggling to find candidates - in fact, some having to beg people to run.

All and sundry say - we heard it this morning - that it was a mistake to close town councils. By the way, that was done in a near-empty Dáil. If we are to be serious about local democracy, town councils need to be in the conversation. I listened to Niall O'Callaghan speak earlier about abuse and online abuse. I had a knife pulled on me. I have had several solicitors' letters. I have had walls in Nenagh painted with abuse towards me and my family. My family have been threatened, but I am still here. I am here because, at the end of the day, people put faith in me to be here. No one will bully me out of doing what I am doing. The fact of the matter is that I did not come here for a pat on the back. I came here because I think the decision to take town councils away from local people was a disaster. It was not done by online trolls. It was not done by foreign agents. It was done by politicians. All that those politicians have been doing over recent years is blowing smoke up our backsides, telling us they will do this and do that. I did not travel here today to be patted on the back, as I said. We want our local democracy back.