Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I want to come back to the question of identity. I will make my position very clear. I am a champion of local government and of regional government. I believe in the empowerment of local and regional government and the better resourcing of local and regional government. I want to go back to my time as a member of the regional assembly and how frustrated I was and the lack of a reserved function. Sometimes you have to work hard to create your own identity with the deck of cards you have been handed. When you take a seat at a regional assembly, you are representative of your local authority.

I know the directors will be tearing the hair out of their heads but I remember I used to often submit notices of motion to my regional assembly. They were not used very often. It is allowed for certainly under the standing orders of the southern regional assembly. I remember in the lead-up to a budget that I submitted a notice of motion looking for a resolution to be adopted at the regional level calling on the Minister for Finance and the Minister for public expenditure to better resource local authorities. I encourage the witnesses, despite whatever resistance they get from their directors, to have more debate in the chambers of their regional assemblies. Have a row in the chamber of your regional assembly. Issue communications to Ministers from your regional assembly. Issue press releases from your regional assemblies. They can be debates about housing, climate, housing adaptation grants, roads funding - whatever. Create your own identity, notwithstanding the ambition we have, and that will be a slow-moving vehicle. Do what I did. Have those debates. Submit notices of motion and make your regional assembly a bit more like the chamber of your local authority. Have those rows.

Ultimately the challenges at the local level will be the same challenges as at the regional level. There will be cross-party support, but definitely adopt those resolutions and send them up to this House of democracy in Dáil Éireann. That is just a bit of feedback.