Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

The Minister's resistance to accepting this amendment appears to be based on whether it is a reserved or executive function. Ultimately, the general public, stakeholders and agencies that deal with local authorities, be it the officials or public representatives, deserve the same quality and type of approach. Consultations should take place with public representatives as much as with staff in the city or county hall. The Minister, in discriminating between one as executive and the other as reserved, is not putting up a strong enough case to reject the amendment. The objective of the amendment is to provide for good practice guidelines. There should be such guidelines for elected representatives and full-time officials of local authorities.

See this speech in context