Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for his questions. The basis for this Bill is the advice of the Attorney General. It is pre-emptive to stave off what happened in health. I always hope the House is the premier place where information is available to Members. This is my reading of the situation and I hope it will be the case.

I cannot give exact answers to all of the Deputy's questions on my first full day in the job. However, I am conscious of what he stated and I will refer to his concern with regard to the growth in the cost of the Local Government Management Services Board. The work of the board has expanded, in particular with regard to the promotion of the partnership process and the performance of the verification process. Half of the annual expenditure paid to local authorities is to promote the partnership process in each local authority.

The growth in the volume of employment legislation, in particular with regard to health and safety, requires additional expertise to advise the local authority sector, which is a major employer with more than 35,000 people. A review is in progress on the Local Government Management Services Board and the corporate services board. Perhaps we will have information on this in the near future.

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