Mr. Séamus Morris:

Since 2014, for ten years, we have not changed one line of the budget. The most important thing councillors should be able to do is to set a budget, but we have not changed one line. The budget is put in front of us. I looked for pre-budget workshops. This is a very complicated process unless it is possible to get an accountant to come in and sit down with us. We used to have great craic on Nenagh town council doing the budgets. We used to have a few beers and glasses of wine in front of us, and we sat down and relaxed. The executive, however, used to always set a trap for us in respect of trying to find somewhere we could call our own. Budgets are supposed to belong to councillors. We have not changed one line in a budget in ten years. This is happening up and down the country because we do not have the expertise. Unless we have an accountant with us, it is not done.

My other point is that there are whole areas in every part of the country not being represented because of the size of municipal districts. I know for a fact there are parts of where I come from not represented. These areas did have enough of a population to elect people. It is necessary to get 1,200 or 1,300 votes to get elected. I ask the committee to bear this in mind when it goes and considers this matter. We are not representing everybody. We only represent some of the people, those who can get a huge number of votes - 1,100 or 1,200 votes. Other people, though, are unrepresented. The councils, therefore, are not working and democracy is not working.

We have a situation in County Tipperary where officials themselves are turning up for photographs of things happening in towns and villages and they are not even telling the councillors. People are asking me why I was not there and if I do not care about them, but we are seeing this in the newspapers at the same time as anyone else is. Additionally, a huge amount of stuff is being bought in towns and villages by CEOs and teams and all the rest of it. Councillors are not being told about it. We find out down the town that something has been bought.