Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I thank everyone for their contributions and service. We have to remember that everyone here today is a public representative.

In respect of the points made by Dr. Clark and others with regard to full-time expectations, in the previous session we held with all of the former Ministers who had held the brief of local government over the past three decades, Noel Dempsey, who, in many ways, was one of the most reforming in some of the introductions he made, made the point for full-time local representatives. However, the modus operandi of why he did so was not just from the point of view of pay, which others have mentioned, but from the point of view of the time required now by local government councillors purely for reading material to be au fait with the legislative requirements being handed down by central government. I was first elected in 1999 and I was a councillor for 17 years. I still look at the monthly agenda for county council meetings held in my county to be au fait with what is going on and I see the number of documents sent down from central government on the agenda. If councillors are to do their job properly, the amount of reading to prepare for that is hugely significant. I note the amount of reading required if we are to do our jobs properly in the Seanad. The call that was being made in respect of asking former Ministers what they would do in respect of the suggestions coming forth in this panel was to do primarily with time and giving local councillors the time to do their job properly. I do not want pre-empt the report but I strongly advocate we consider that extremely seriously. When we meet with the party leaders of all parties, we should make that point to them.

Finally, while many of the points echoed today have been reciprocated by other councillors from around the country, Dublin is unique. Joanna Tuffy made the point in respect of the lowest amount of representation in Ireland vis-à-vis the rest of Europe. When I was in the Dáil in the last term, I brought in a local government Bill seeking the reinstatement of town councils.

It was not applicable to Dublin, in terms of what happened in the past, with the exception of Balbriggan town commission. Looking at Balbriggan now, it is one of the largest towns in Ireland. Would it not be amazing if in an area near where Councillor Henchy lives, there was a statutory council for such a large area? Next door is Swords, which is another of the largest towns in Ireland. Representation in an area the size of Dublin, in respect of both its geography and population, warrants special attention, and the same is true in many other places in Ireland, because of the changes in national policy that are moving Ireland from a rural-based country to an urbanised one, particularly on the eastern coast. I would like to hear the views of representatives from Dublin on that point.