Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I will give the Minister a certain degree of flexibility on the matter. When he announced the Green Paper a number of years ago, the McCarthy report and the local government efficiency review group followed. Ultimately, the position remains the same and question is where the structure of local government lies. As the Minister is well aware, the structure is laid out by the terms of funding and how those structures are applied.

Where is the White Paper on local government? There were two significant reports in the McCarthy report and the local government efficiency review group report and the Minister will have taken cognisance of both of those in the move from a Green Paper to a White Paper. Will we see the White Paper before Christmas?

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