James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

We will all be looking forward to the Minister, Deputy Gormley's Green Paper on local government. He said prior to being appointed Minister - I have followed the statements he has made - that he does not believe in all the various bodies, namely, local authorities and regional authorities; he believes there is too much representation at regional level. I await with interest to see if he will contradict himself when he publishes the Green paper on local government.

It is wrong to remove powers from local public representatives who are elected by the people in their different wards and areas. The regional authorities, as we all know, are a talking shop. I served on the Midland Regional Authority and it was nothing but a talking shop. It had no real powers and it delivered nothing. It was a facility for some members to attend and to be a member of another committee but they had no powers or clout. The public look to the locally elected members to deliver on services. I do not want there to be any increase in powers given to regional authorities in this regard or any powers taken from locally elected representatives.

See this speech in context