John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I can assure the Deputy that he will see it. The problem is we have had so many different initiatives to put in place. For example, yesterday the four year plan was published with significant proposals relating to funding for local government, including the local charge. All that must be consistent with the White Paper. We will now proceed with the White Paper, which will include those very important revenue raising powers for local authorities.

For the first time we will be in a position where local authorities will be self-financing. I have always felt that 1977 was a crucial election because local government was emasculated and it has not properly recovered since. There has been an erosion in the powers of local councillors, greater powers for managers and it will take some time to recover from that. Similarly, revenue raising powers were gone and there was a concentration on commercial rates and the local government fund. If these powers are not in place there is no local government but local administration instead. That is the emphasis of the Green Paper and it will be the emphasis of the White Paper.

There have been a number of initiatives in this respect. The Bill relating to the Dublin mayoralty is going through the House currently and that is a vital step in the right direction in revitalising local Government in this country. We have never had a directly elected mayor in this country and it is about time we had. It is about time for us to have greater powers at local level. Over the past number of years I have noticed that managers are becoming ever more powerful in this country and as a result, local councillors feel they must develop a relationship with the manager to get things done so they do not rock the boat too much. It is happening on an increasing basis.

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