Mr. Mark Lynch:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members for the invitation to speak today.

I am relatively new to local politics having had the honour of being co-opted onto South Dublin County Council in February last year representing the Rathfarmham-Templeogue area. I, therefore, can offer a fresh perspective on the topic of local government.

While I had little hands-on experience in local or national politics up until recently, I managed a members-owned club for over a decade prior to taking up the position of councillor. Members-owned clubs are, by their nature, political organisations and have a similar dynamic to council structure: a permanent management, staff and rotating board members akin to councillors. As such, I have an appreciation for both the executive and the public representative perspectives.

If we are to have strong local government, it is critically important that we have a system that attracts good-quality diverse candidates representative of our communities. The first major stumbling block is the time commitment required for the remuneration that is on offer. To do the job properly requires a minimum of 30 hours per week, and often more, and this is not possible for someone who has a full-time job and-or family commitments. I had to turn down an earlier opportunity to become a councillor and could only accept the position at a later time when my personal and financial circumstances allowed. Many excellent people who could make a valuable contribution to local government are not, and may never be, in a position to do so under the current system.

Since my co-option in 2013, I have been impressed by the skill, dedication and desire of council management and staff to deliver the best possible level of service, vision and development of our county. Each person whom I have dealt with is clearly passionate about what he or she does and in what way he or she believes in the best interests of the county as a whole. However, the system within which they operate lacks accountability to the communities that they service.

The system can create an environment where councillors are a nuisance to be endured rather than public servants representing their constituents. This is not the fault of any individual or group. People who work in any organisation can only be as good as the system within which they operate. There is a disconnect between constituents, councillors and the strategic direction of the council. The balance of power remains with the Executive and central Government with councillors having tokenistic input into strategic capital investment, the allocation of resources and budgeting. Without the ability to have genuine and worthwhile input, it is difficult for councillors to properly represent their constituents. As one constituent once put it to me, "What is the point of councillors if you do not have the power to act on my behalf?"

We are seeing a steady decline in public confidence in our politicians and political system. It is crucial that we take every necessary action to ensure that our democracy does not fail, as it appears to be doing in many other countries. A strong, local democratic system is required where councillors and directly-elected mayors can hold executives to account who, in turn, are answerable to their constituents. A local government system must, however, be designed in such a way so that the overall agreed strategic role of the council cannot be frustrated by minority objectors. The introduction of a plebiscite on an enhanced local area development plan coupled with limiting avenues of subsequent ultra-localised objections should be examined. It is disheartening that Ireland has one of the weakest local government systems in Europe but this gives us an opportunity to design a system that ensures citizens have a say in decisions that directly affect them. There are excellent examples of strong government structures throughout Europe, the best elements of which we should use as a template to design our own new system.

I thank the committee for its work on this crucial issue and wish it every success in this endeavour.