Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the Ministers, Deputies and Senators who have come today. Senator Kyne said he was first elected 20 years ago. Two weeks ago marked 25 years since I was elected in 1999 when I was still a young fella. I served 17 years in both town and county. It was an engaging and rewarding experience to serve. That is why I am so passionate about this process we are involved in. So far, in the work we have done during this year of hearings, we have heard from councillors, officials, civil society, PPNs, members from the North and today from Dáil and Seanad Members. It is important to hear views, and we are coming to the culmination of that, so we can get a good body of work. As Senator Casey has said, the work done by the Library and Research Service over the past months in terms of the examination of powers from 1992 to the present day has been hugely insightful. I encourage everyone in the Oireachtas to read it in the context of the rebalancing of powers across planning, housing, roads and the environment and the methodology of why that happened. That is also interesting. A number of aspects were raised by members today. A recurring theme has been the eradication of power at a granular level, which is the town councils. Having served on those for a number of years, I agree with that. The comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, go to the heart of it in the sense that urban spaces are unique. They are not just for the residents. They are shared spaces for those who live in the town, those who come into the town as visitors, and those who do business in the town.

They constitute a unique space that is not just the preserve of residents. We need to acknowledge that in the context of towns like Kilkenny, Drogheda and Sligo that had borough councils and a unique status, as well as growing towns like Navan. Removing them was a disservice to the general population and I would seek their restoration.

In terms of budgets and funding, an issue the library and research team delved into, and which we knew ourselves, was the receipt by local authorities of a number of funds across Departments, more than ever before. While much commentary in these sessions has been negative in tone, there are many positives. In my county of Meath, we have a spend this year in the revenue alone of €209 million; ten years ago, it was only €99 million. There are huge amounts of money and that does not include money coming in from groups like the NTA, where my town is getting in excess of €20 million for restoration of the town core.

Deputy Boyd Barrett said paths and roads were falling asunder and there was no money but that is not the case; there are huge amounts of money going into our towns. He mentioned sports funding. Last month it was announced there will be €250 million allocated for sports funding this summer. That is up €210 million in five years. The money is going into communities; it is about the strands through which it is going in. We have the idea that if it is not coming directly from local authorities, then it is not happening at community level. However, it is. Important in these discussions is examining the rebalancing and how to best deliver that. We had an examination of the system in the North and the point we are making is if you are seen only as an administrator of the fund, it affects turnout among the electorate. That is an interesting point we are examining.

I will finish on a light-hearted note. My colleague, Senator Boyhan, talked about pacts and tribalism. The Independents are getting a bit tribal as well. In Navan yesterday, they joined forces with Sinn Féin to keep Sinn Féin in for a third term in a row. The Senator's good friend Councillor Deane was involved. They even did business with the devils themselves, Fianna Fáil, just to keep their show for the gold chain.