Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The Minister is the Minister and the buck stops with him. When I am in his Department, the buck will stop with me. I suggest he does something about the website. However, to be constructive, I welcome the report, on which Deputy Hayes will contribute later in the debate. The question of water supply and its affect on agriculture are important issues raised in the report.

I recently had a conversation about the Bill in a relaxed atmosphere with local government officials. It was their opinion that water charges would be reintroduced, whether in this Bill or another Bill. They laughed when I referred to the repeated denials of the Minister and his predecessor in regard to the Bill.

I understand the Bill reserves to the county manager alone specific reserve functions in the making of a scheme. This is important because there are two parties to local government, namely, the officials, led by the manager, and, on the other side, the public representatives. The Bill excludes public representatives from making this decision, which would be a reserve function of the county manager. This would be a retrograde step and is the focus of concern. From our experience of public life and local government, Members know that difficult decisions must sometimes be made. However, with regard to the reserve functions of the manager, councillors can argue for or against but the manager has the power.

There is only one way to grow local democracy and a fair, open, honest and transparent system, and this is by giving power to councillors to deal with these issues. The Minister is creating a new power which he is not giving to councillors. This is fundamentally undemocratic and lends credence to the belief on all sides of the House, and outside it, that the Minister is trying to bring back water charges, which will be absolutely resisted around the country.

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