Mr. John Sheahan:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members for the invitation to participate in this recap of where we are at in regard to the public consultation on the future of local democracy. We made a contribution to the committee last November. Today, I am joined by the following LAMA colleagues: Councillor Micheál Anglim, chairperson; Councillor Terry Shannon, vice chairperson; Councillor Damien Ryan, public relations officer; Councillor Joe Malone, Oireachtas liaison officer; and Councillor Brian Lawlor, public relations officer. I see a few familiar faces today, whom we had not seen previously, from around the mid-west. That is good.

I begin by recapping what LAMA does.

LAMA represents over 800 paid members with an executive body of 31 members, one from each local authority. We have an officer board that looks after the day-to-day running of the body. We are the representative body for the councillors and run by the councillors. LAMA is an apolitical representative body which represents all parties and none in the pursuit of better work conditions, work-life balance, remuneration, well-being and the welfare of our members.

In previous presentations, several contributors outlined the changes in local government since its inception 125 years ago are clear and probably not for the better in the main as the principle of subsidiarity is eroded year on year. Reading through the threads of contributions, it is clear the issues are predominantly the same. We have the most centralised government in Europe with councillors' powers very much diminished. Much blame for that lies at the feet of the permanent government, the Civil Service, which sees Ministers come and go from election to election and control the strings that keeps the power not only in the Oireachtas but in their own Departments. This will not change while the will of the Oireachtas Member is to be the bearer of good news locally.

I noted in earlier contributions a former Minister for local government told this committee that while in office, he asked councillors what powers they would like to take back and I think he is still waiting for an answer. That point has some validity too because councillors can be their own worst enemies for happily letting an executive of a council take the unsavoury decisions.

The lack of a third tier of governance in Ireland came across. A meaningful, thought-out tier of regional government is required in Ireland. At present, it is set up generally as a mechanism to satisfy the funding streams in Europe and has little or no power. It has been noted that even the constituencies of our elected members to the European Parliament are not aligned with our regional assemblies, which is something that should be examined.

Interference with planning at local level was a common thread through previous contributions, as well as the introduction of the SHDs, the OPR – I could be here until doomsday talking about that – and the removal of councillors' powers through section 179A which is a very recent measure, where the chief executive can sign off on a Part 8 planning application. Part 8 planning is where the chief executive is looking for planning for him or herself, in a sense, meaning the council. He or she can sign off on that without councillors consent. This was brought in as a temporary measure with a sunset clause to get us through the housing crisis. I believe it has now been extended in the new planning Bill into 2025.

There must be proper remuneration for councillors, which should include a pension now that auto-enrolment has been introduced in Ireland. Much has been done on pay, aligning councillors to a public service grade. That should automatically allow the likes of LAMA, the representative body, to take a seat at some table in future negotiations regarding councillors' pay and conditions. The questioning of State bodies and Oireachtas Members are now non-events. Even the joint policing committees are heading in that direction. The abolition of the dual mandate has facilitated all this. Independent advice for councillors is independent in name only. This needs a complete overhaul, not only for planning but for all aspects of councillors' work, such is the volume of plans that we must peruse and pass. Legal advice is the same. We are entitled to a second legal opinion but it is the same person asking for the second opinion as the person who asked for the first, namely, the chief executive. As for qualified privilege for councillors, we have to ask ourselves what that actually means. Councillors are moving into the digital era and people are requesting livestreaming of meetings without seeking to first put in place safeguards to protect them in digitally live situations. Transparency at council meetings is very important for people to take interest in politics but the protection of the councillor is equally important. We are facing a new revolution, bigger than the industrial revolution, with technology developments such as the likes of AI and so on. This is here and it will impact on how we do business and how both national and local government operate. We must adapt.

We also wish to raise the issue of toxicity in politics.

It has developed around the world and it is growing and now on our doorstep. Councillors have had an average three- to four-month campaign, door to door, on social media, etc. Some councillors, for a myriad of reasons, were abused whether it be due to their background, nationality, race or gender. Whatever they faced, they sometimes faced it personally, alone, and most often without the proper protection of the State. This needs to be addressed as it is discouraging people from putting their names forward and they will never enjoy the humbling privilege we have all had of having an elected mandate from our peers to serve our people.

These are some of the threads we picked up on from the deliberations for this committee to date. We are happy to work with the committee further and give any clarifications requested. When we last appeared before this committee, we stated that the timing was not great as it straddled two council terms, If one was a good reader of the tea leaves at the moment and if we have this packaged and done by autumn 2024, we could be straddling two terms of Government. I thank the Chairman.