Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

They will ring back in perhaps six weeks. I will deal with something that relates to where we are going. We are on the subject of better local government, but that means more centralised local government, authority, power and control. That leaves the way open for worse things to happen than we have seen. The Flood report should be able to illustrate that it can never occur again and that we will never again see a situation like that which we have talked about, with its corruption and bribery. The lesson for us all should now be that we do not have a centralised system where one, two, three or four people can control everyone's mind and, as a result, determine policy in their own way and in their own time.

How do we prevent a recurrence? What has been put in place since to prevent one? The only legislation is the Ethics in Public Office Act and the Standards in Public Office Act. There has been nothing more. Incidentally, the regulations pertaining to local authorities are not nearly so stringent as those pertaining to the Oireachtas. I do not know why that has been the case, but it must be asked why it was done like that. After all, the abolition of the dual mandate removed the Oireachtas Members from the zoning of land and anything to do with that. How can it now be the case that there is a relaxed system regarding how the Electoral Acts affect local authority members and a rigid one regarding donations and the use to which they are put? There is a huge difference.

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