Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I then became involved locally in educational, social and environmental issues and other issues people want us to deal with on a daily basis that upset them. My progress through the political system was slow and I ended up on the local authority in 1991. I was a little older than most starting out. I am not ashamed of that and I was delighted to be a member of Dublin County Council. I strongly supported the reorganisation of local government in 1994 because I believed the break up of the large council and the establishment of smaller councils in south Dublin, where I live, Dún Laoghaire and Fingal with the retention of the city council was important.

In recent times, people commenting on the scope of local government in the region have said there are too many councillors and the structure is unwieldy. However, I believed in 1994 that this was a good idea because it involved bringing local government to the people. People often said to me, for example, when I was on the old county council that I, as a Tallaght-based councillor, was making decisions about Swords and other towns far from Tallaght and the reverse was also the case. There was a great deal of criticism in the wider community about decisions being made by local authority members who had no contact with the areas affected. Smaller councils were a better idea and, over the years, even though there has been criticism, they have worked. I was delighted to be re-elected to the council in 1999 and I became cathaoirleach, which was an important milestone in my attempt to contribute to local democracy.

I do not wish to be disloyal to the Government but I was as upset as many other local councillors when I became a Dáil Deputy and could not continue as a member of the local authority. I understand why the decision was taken but I believed it put us at a disadvantage. I do not know whether other Members will admit it. Deputies Upton and Ó Snodaigh served on Dublin local authorities. I do not know whether it is right or wrong but not a day goes by without my office being contacted about issues relating to the local authority. People always say that they know I am a TD and that I have moved on in that sense, but they still want me to deal with issues of concern to them.

On any given day, constituents will contact Members about roadworks, street lighting and the pruning of trees. I conducted an analysis recently of the calls I have received over the past number of months and, amazingly, I got more calls about bin collections in south Dublin than anything else. People in communities feel strongly about the development of local services and local authorities and it is important in the context of this Bill to acknowledge that. I am not ashamed that, as a Dáil Deputy, these are the issues constituents come to me about and these are the challenges they want me to deal with. However, they are also in contact about social welfare issues and so on.

Tallaght is the third largest population centre in the country. It did not fall out of the sky 30 years ago, as some people think. It has been there forever and it has a rich heritage but it had particular challenges. The Square celebrated its 20th birthday a few weeks ago. When it was built, Tallaght turned a corner and there has been great progress in my town in recent years, with the development of the hospital, the transfer of the local authority to the town and the development of many other services one would expect in a major town. I look forward to cheering on Shamrock Rovers next Sunday. I hope the nice people of Sligo and, particularly their public representatives, enjoy their day out but I also hope Shamrock Rovers bring the cup back to Tallaght.

I get many calls about the development of Tallaght and, in particular, about the number of unused and unoccupied apartments. Many towns and villages have the same problem. The property boom resulted in the development of many accommodation units. Tallaght is no different from anywhere else but this is an issue. I get many calls from people who say there should be a better way to deal with planning applications. They ask why the Government does not take developments over. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle was a progressive Minister for the Environment but even he held the view that the development of communities should be orchestrated primarily at local level.

I recall being the lone Fianna Fáil member of the devolution commission established by the former Taoiseach, John Bruton, in 1995. I am proud of the work we did because what we did was right. We tried to create a scenario where powers were devolved from central government to local authorities. Nowadays, I receive representations from people in Tallaght who want this reversed because decisions taken at local level by the county manager under the Housing Acts were not suitable. The criticism is justified in that there are many unoccupied apartments in Tallaght village. There is an unoccupied ten-storey block at the corner of the bypass and this affects the image of the town, as we try to attract people. The issue of who should be responsible for planning and whether it should be administered by a local office or a national office, which I do not favour, is relevant to this Bill. People who claim the Minister of the day would make different decisions might find that it is not way everything works. With regard to the development of powers for the directly-elected mayor of Dublin, it is important to understand that.

A number of colleagues spoke about possible candidates who might run for mayor. Prior to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle resuming the Chair, I said that while I am interested in the position-----

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