Ms Deirdre Donnelly:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis na Seanadóirí as ucht cuireadh a thabhairt dom labhairt anseo inniu i Seomra an tSeanaid. I will focus on two issues that are relevant to councillors and democracy in Ireland today. I first call out the lack of powers accorded to a councillor. Despite being elected with a mandate to represent the people of their constituency, many decisions that impact our community are left to unelected officials. Whereas the Dáil and the Seanad introduce, scrutinise and vote on Bills, which in turn become law, our councillors across the country have limited powers. One such example in my area of Stillorgan, County Dublin, was the closure of Glenalbyn swimming pool ten years ago. I am using this example, but we all have examples in our own areas. This pool was the lifeblood of the community for schools, special needs groups, the elderly and clubs. A decade later the site is there, the funding is there and the public and political will to have it reopened is certainly there. Despite meetings and motions at local and council level the Executive gives us the same response that negotiations are ongoing. The management in councils across the country effectively hold a veto over key decisions affecting us all.

My second point refers to an issue that has been in the public domain for some time, which is the safety and security of public representatives. Like others, I have been the recipient of online messages, lewd and disgusting comments, vile pornographic clips and there is a view that most of the intimidation of public representatives is by people unknown to them. However, when the incident I outlined was occurring I was also dealing with something more concerning. I have been harassed and assaulted by a fellow councillor from another local authority at a council event. That series of incidents on the evening in question affected me greatly, but nothing prepared me for the disgraceful justice and political system I experienced afterwards. I have spoken about Ireland's justice system already and that is a discussion for another day, but I was extremely disappointed at the lack of support I felt came from the individual's party, my own council and the Department of local government. On that, I will make two points.