John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

It will depend on what they are examining. The crucial difference is that the committees will include external members. Sometimes, if councillors were involved in decisions with expenditure implications, they could not adjudicate on their performance properly. I hope the committees will meet as often as necessary. When people are only in receipt of expenses and work is not properly remunerated, one cannot expect the same extent of work.

I did not answer the Deputy's question on the embargo. It is a separate matter, but it must be addressed if we are to have functioning local government. I want greater staff numbers. I was surprised that the same number of people is employed in local authorities as in the early 1970s. Given the population increase since then, this must be addressed.

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