Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For a number of reasons, I will not go into that specific case. Colleagues have made good points as to why there is an issue with the words "insofar as is practicable". We have seen evidence that some local authorities do not co-operate and do not work in a sustainable manner. If the management of a local authority has issues with funding, it might see that rezoning a particular location will bring in big companies and lead to a large rates take every year. As the manager of that local authority, why would one not do that, especially given that the authority's central funding has been slashed since 2009 or 2010?

The problem for half the local authorities in the country is that they are struggling to get money in because they do not have the same funding they had before the financial crisis. Some have no alternative but to generate money in a way that is not sustainable and is not for the greater good of their area. That is why they have taken some of the decisions we have seen. Without going into examples, I have seen it happening in my county. We need local authorities to work together. This is not just an issue in Cork. These issues have arisen with a number of local authorities. Unless the wording of this subsection is a lot stronger, it will leave the door open for decisions like the ones mentioned to be taken. For local authorities that struggle with funding, until there is proper funding from central government to allow them to operate, we will see some of them looking for loopholes and ways around because they might have no other choice.