Mr. Shane O'Brien:

On Senator O'Reilly's comments on directly elected mayors, that has broad political support and potential. Some of it will be in the workings. A number of amendments were rejected during the Oireachtas legislative process, such as the powers to acquire land for purposes of residential development and so on and so forth. Time will tell regarding directly elected mayors. We have an issue with the lack of universal coverage. I do not believe there should be a delay in asking people in Dublin, Galway and elsewhere whether they support the concept of a directly elected mayor. Plans can be made to hold future elections if that is what the people of those cities so wish.

I would like to make a point regarding one matter that has not been touched on. We are talking about the future of democracy, in particular good local democracy. It is important we have constitutional recognition in terms of Article 28A, but we have no constitutional protection. Local democracy, all of the councillors that are here today and future generations of councillors who will continue to do work could be got rid of with the swipe of a pen or a decree by any Government that wants to destroy or enhance democracy. That is something that needs to be examined in the context of the report the committee will publish. It is not good enough to just recognise local government. It needs to be protected.

On some of the points made about town and borough councils, I am not old enough to have served on a town council. I am devoid of some of the experience members have brought to the committee. I recognise there is an issue in terms of a sense of place, connection and trust. While municipal districts are working well in many instances, they could work better. The re-establishment of town councils on a different basis could support reconnection and the development and enhancement of trust between local communities and government.