Victor Boyhan (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for their informative submissions. We had advance notice about many of the things they were going to say from their submissions.

I will address the representatives of Fórsa first. I am particularly pleased that its representatives are here. Fórsa is a very active trade union. I am very supportive of the work done by Fórsa. There were industrial relations issues with the organisation that impacted on politicians in terms of their engagement. That matter is not for today and I am only referencing it. .

I thank the Fórsa representatives for their communication. Of course we have the Fórsa magazine here and the magazines billow up in the boxes they come in. It is great to read the magazine. I believe that we have the potential to be greater stakeholders. Fórsa needs to examine how it interacts with the elected members of local authorities and, indeed, the elected members of the Oireachtas. We may be missing something so there should be an opportunity for further dialogue with Fórsa. I believe that we sing off the same page on most issues. There are literally 1,000 stakeholders who are elected representatives. These people are critically aware of the work, challenges and tasks of the union's membership. We are consciously aware of certain attempts to privatise some services and the challenges relating to the same applies to Irish Water and the disaster that has been up to now.

I appeal to Fórsa that we engage more and work more because I believe the trade union has many champions within local authorities. I mean not only in the workforce because clearly Fórsa has that. I refer to elected members. There is a lot to be achieved by greater synergy and co-operation. We are not agin each other but there is great potential to work with each other.

On PPNs, there have been challenges about PPNs. Councillors have asked me what are the PPNs doing because they are not elected. I believe in the grassroots element of democracy. I believe that great people have come from PPNs. Even though the PPNs are a very active and successful organisation we need to address concerns. We also need clear parameters about the role of PPNs. There is no opposition but there needs to be greater parameters. The PPN Secretariat and Fórsa slightly differ from other groups on many issues but I believe progress can be made. The committee has all of the submissions and we will take them on board.

Mr. Horgan made a strong and valid case for open data. My colleagues and I will argue for us to specifically consider open data as one of our tasks and major asks because it shines a light on a load of issues. It is about access to information, validation, accountability and transparency.

Finally, I thank everyone who made submissions here today. Well done.