Mr. Shane O'Brien:

I welcome the opportunity to speak today and I extend apologies on behalf of our general secretary, Ken O'Connell, who cannot attend. I thank all members of the committee, including Senators Wall, Boyhan, Casey and Black and the rapporteur, Senator Cassells, for their ongoing work on the future of local democracy. As noted in the background to this consultation, we have seen councillors' powers reduce and shift towards central government and local authorities over the past three decades or more. This has happened in various ways, such as through the Local Government Reform Act 2014 and other overarching policy national policy documents and frameworks.

Protecting, enhancing and improving our democracy should not be viewed as a one-off event. As we have seen the world over, democracies can be fragile and their protection is a continuous process. Given the changes that have occurred in respect of local government in the State, I concur with the committee's assessment that it is now timely to conduct a public consultation on the future of the most important arm of government, namely, local government. I wish the committee well in the preparation and publication of its report in a timely manner.

I want to speak on the issue of participation because it is a crucial part of local government. If there was no participation, a turnout of 0% on 7 June, we would have a bigger issue than the form, functions and funding of local government. Over the past two decades, we have seen a steady decline in voter turnout in local elections. In 2004, the turnout was just under 60%. It was down 2% to 58% in 2009. It was 52% in 2014, down to 50.2% in 2019 and 7 June 2024 saw the lowest ever turnout for local elections, with 49.4% of eligible people exercising their democratic right to vote. We cannot ignore this trend as it is a problem for the political process and our democracy as a whole. The fact that more than half of registered voters either stayed at home or were unable to participate, whether because of holidays, work or other commitments, says more about the system they are being asked to participate in than it does about individual voters or the calibre of candidates standing for election on 7 June.

Over the past 14 months, Sinn Féin has selected more than 500 candidates for local elections, North and South. While selecting candidates can be a fraught process, with obvious difficulties, any party that empowers local structures, creates pathways for new candidates and members and ensures appropriate mentorship and training can overcome these challenges. As a party, we thank LAMA, the AILG and those involved in organisations such as Women for Election for their ongoing mentorship, support and training for candidates of all political parties and none.

Sinn Féin recognises the key role that adequately resourced local government systems can play. It is the coalface of the political system and we need to empower local authorities to fulfil their respective roles and deliver services to their full potential.

A general theme not just at this hearing but across all of the work of the committee has been curtailment of powers. That means privatisation in some cases and outsourcing in others. Such issues are being discussed in this House today. The issue of the remunicipalisation of waste services by the Department of the environment is one such matter. That is a key function of many local government sectors across the EU. Many cities are reversing the trend of privatisation and taking key powers, such as the control of waste services, back under public control. That should form part of this committee's work when looking at what powers and services should exist and should be provided by local councils and authorities. If we were to continue to pursue the policies of recent years, which have cut the legs from councillors and officials, we would be sleepwalking into a democratic crisis. We must return and recommit to the principle of subsidiarity by devolving responsibility and autonomy and returning decision-making to the lowest and most local level possible.

When a decision is made about setting up new agencies, functions or services, we should first ask if our local government network can provide the service. Unfortunately, that has not been the case, as we have seen with a number of services being removed or new agencies being established to do the job that the local authority sector can deliver, given the wealth of knowledge and the ingrained nature of the networks the sector provides.

The negative impact of overarching legislation and national policy documents on the function of local authorities has been discussed in some ways and has been a theme in other hearings. However, there is a role for the rights and responsibilities aspect to it. The gentleman from LAMA asked that question and it is a question that is asked of many members elected to local authorities. What powers do they feel they need? Sometimes there is a lack of clarity in the response of councillors to that question, which shows the difficulty and the complex nature of deciding what those powers should be. We should not denigrate the CCMA or other local authority managers by saying that power should be taken from them for no good reason other than that they have too much power. We should be aiming to strengthen democracy and communities. Power should be given to the people's directly elected representatives. By doing so, we would create and build trust in the communities that these local authorities serve.

I will speak briefly about the positivity of the various proactive initiatives that are taking place on a cross-Border and all-island basis. There is, for example, a strategic partnership between Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council. That needs to be replicated across the Border to bring real life and positive improvements to the midlands and the north-west region, in particular. This is the essence of reconciliation. It is a way to show people, regardless of their backgrounds, that local authorities and district councils can and should be working on their behalf.

While many challenges exist for local governments, the future can be bright if the tools are granted from a statutory and funding perspective to resource local government. Many of the threats that people have spoken of in respect of social media abuse and toxicity exist because there is a lack of trust and a lack of knowledge of the role and hard work that is being done across this State by local councillors. I commend all councillors and the members of the committee for their work in this regard.