Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the thrust of the comments made by Deputy Brian Stanley. It comes down to the fact that rural areas are under-represented while urban areas are over-represented, given the number of new councillors in Dublin as against the wide mass of geographical areas councillors have to cover in rural areas and the commitment and effort required to do that as against the over-representation in Dublin. My proposals are contained in amendment No. 21, section 22A(3), which provides for the number of members on each community council to fill the gap left by virtue of the provision proposed by the Minister which, as I said earlier, is inevitable in its process. Having said that, we are making constructive proposals to address the deficiency that will exist after the change has been made resulting in the loss of many councillors on county councils, not to mention the severe loss to town councils and local democracy. However, that is for another section and another debate. In this regard, if the Minister is not willing to reverse his proposals and the method by which he has arrived at them, I suggest he look at amendment No. 21, section 22A(3), which provides for the number of members on each community council in all towns and villages.