Mr. Paraic Brady:

I thank Senators for meeting us today. I will address some of the issues regarding the municipal district, MD, areas. It comes back to the AILG. It seems that the larger the municipal area, the greater the work done in that area is. It is seen that all the work gets done in MD areas.

As for town teams, town councils and one thing or another, I know, as a member from Longford County Council, that we have a small municipal district with a small number of members on our council. We have a great working relationship with our management and our directors of services. We have think-ins with our management teams at all times. That is why our local authority works. However, coming back to the bigger local authorities, members feel there is a divide between management, CEOs and members. This is what has come back to us through the AILG. There is disconnect between the CEOs, new councillors and councillors who have been elected for a number of years. There is no trust in councillors to actually make decisions. This is what has come back to us. A bit more trust needs to be given to councillors. I totally agree that with trust comes responsibility. I am sure, with upskilling and training, councillors can and will step up to the plate.

As for funding, Senator Joe O'Reilly spoke about local taxation. We collect our property tax in our areas and therefore, we actually lift funding locally ourselves. From members' feedback, there needs to be more trust given to councillors, as well as increased cohesion between our management and staff to make decisions collectively. Going forward, that is possible.

We all know the problems and we are all addressing them here. Everyone is aware of what has been said here today. Certain areas have improved in the past five years. One of the schemes which was of great benefit to councillors was the scheme in which councillors were given security cameras to improve safety and their visual impact within their houses. It cut down on that whole area of abuse around councillors' own private dwellings. It gave councillors a bit more safety. Things have improved. Everything seems to be negative but things have improved. We can go a lot further with this. I thank the committee for its time today.