Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I always argued for discretion. I recall that my first day as a council member when we discussed the county development plan, an old councillor, who has long since passed away, said the one thing we must not do is allow the county manager to streamline everything because he will never exercise an ounce of discretion. Perhaps there is an argument in that regard. However, standardisation of interpretation is important. The Minister supports that and I am grateful to him for his support. My intention is to bring everything together so that there would be a unitary interpretation while, at the same time, allowing flexibility, where needed. CWOs served us well in the past because they knew individual and family circumstances best through their work.

Deputy Murphy has again demonstrated her knowledge of the local authority system. Her idea is excellent and I will see whether it can be implemented. I will suggest that my officials raise this at their next meeting with representatives of the County and City Managers' Association. If the Deputy has further ideas in this regard, I would appreciate it if she would furnish me with the details. Her proposal would simplify everything for the applicant whom we are trying to work with and whose needs we are trying to satisfy. Such applicants can become confused but many young applicants are computer literate and if the forms were available online, it would be efficient for the applicants and the local authorities. I hope turnaround times would also improve. It would be administratively efficient and effective and it would be worthwhile pursuing.

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