Mr. Gearóid Murphy:

I thank the members for their positive comments on my suggestion regarding privilege. I might expand a little and pick up on a point touched on by Senator Casey regarding the wider issue of personal legal liability of councillors for actions taken in our role as public representatives. In the last county development plan in Cork County Council it was, as I recall in any case, generally considered an open question whether we as councillors could be held personally legally liable in cases where we acted against the advice of the executive. Realistically, there is every chance this might never come to pass. However, the fact it was even considered an open question could certainly have an effect on councillors' freedom to act and their peace of mind in acting unfettered from other considerations, save their democratic mandate, in relation to the county development plan. This leads to another suggestion beside the privilege one, namely, that it should be made explicit in statute or, at a minimum, in ministerial guidelines that local authorities must indemnify all councillors for decisions we make while exercising our democratic mandates, whether or not those decisions are in line with what the executive is advising.

On town teams, there would appear to be major differences between different counties. For example, on Cork County Council they have not really been a factor since the end of the Covid lockdowns. I largely associated them with the Covid period so it is very interesting to hear the contributions from the Wicklow councillors.

I slightly disagree with something Councillor Whelan said about remote meetings. I certainly agree with the general sentiment that it is desirable for councillors to be physically present as often as we can. When it comes to full council meetings in the county hall, I almost always attend in person and make a point of doing so. It is very important. However, the extra flexibility the ability to attend remotely has provided is a major selling point in making the job more attractive to people with childcare commitments, for example. Those commitments were a major issue highlighted in the report by the National Women's Council of Ireland into achieving greater gender balance at local level. It should be left to local authorities, councillors in particular, to determine as a reserved function whether remote attendance is allowed for certain meetings, all meetings or a certain percentage of meetings.