Mr. Michael Whelan:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and Senators for the opportunity to address them. For all intents and purposes, I am a full-time councillor. I stated in my submission that the role of the local authority is being too centralised. This was referred to in the Council of Europe report, which stated that Ireland has the least democratic local government administrative policies and procedures and that while this concern was previously highlighted by that body, nothing had happened. That is not the case. Things have happened and we are rapidly travelling in the wrong direction. More policies and procedures that are less democratic are being introduced. As was said previously, I have been chair of Wexford joint policing committee, JPC, for ten years. I know that will not happen after the next election. Not only can we not elect our own chair, but the number of councillors on the JPC will be limited.

The powers of local authority members have diminished annually, creating a situation where Ireland has one of the most centralised local governments in Europe. Oireachtas Members feel they also have to do a councillor's job to get elected. The attempt to delineate roles through the removal of the dual mandate has failed and has only served to further alienate local authorities. Consequently, as a councillor, I have to compete with my local TD, and his or her office and staff. I recall texting a lady one morning to say that drainage work would be carried out on her road as requested, only to receive a reply that her TD had already told her. This goes too far into my job and what I need to do.

On the budget, which has been referenced, we receive a roads budget, for instance. Every item that is applied for has to be itemised on this allocation to the department to receive this funding. Housing, climate action, rural development and other issues cannot be left to the council for some reason. County hall is full of administrators sending paperwork back and forth from one department to another, while councillors are in the middle with little power to govern. We have to get clearance on everything and applications must be flawless. That might be the reason we spend so much money on consultants, when it comes to applying for funding.

Devolution of more power in the areas of health, education and policing would enhance local government but we see a move in the other direction. The power of representation by local councillors is being diluted. How, we might ask, do we restore powers to local democracy? What key powers do we need to restore? Our budget process does not work. The council, through its process, has little control over the budget. As was said, it is a case of attending the meeting and rubber-stamping what the CEO has decided. Our county development plans were also referred to where, again, we are being governed from the top down.

There are worrying times ahead. It seems it is the decision of good people to leave local politics. One local authority of 40 councillors has had 20 co-options since 2019. That has to be worrying. Something is wrong here. I hear stories of nearly empty council chambers because of councillors joining meetings remotely. That has to be reversed. It is an insult to local democracy that council chambers are empty. The representation of women and minority groups, which was referenced, has improved slightly but more has to be done to enhance workplace conditions. The problem of harassment of councillors, both online and in other ways, also needs to be addressed.

In some ways, councillors have to take some responsibility for losing these powers. We need to fight. I congratulate every councillor here, and the Senators who have taken the initiative to listen to us, but we have to fight for what has been taken away. I will declare that I am the LAMA representative for Wexford. We need to better support the associations so they can support us and fight for what has been taken away.