Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)

My fellow councillors used to warn me to be careful not to mention that the council was wasting money because I would not get anything from them. That is an absolutely ridiculous system.

What I am proposing is a new system under which we have a directly elected mayor along with - in the case of Roscommon County Council - six elected councillors who sit in cabinet and make decisions. They decide how the money is spent. They debate whether to pull up a footpath for the fifth time in ten years or use the money to develop the local swimming pool. Give them the power to develop tourism and the agrifood sector because they are local and understand it, and leave people in Dáil Éireann - and the Seanad if one wants to hold on to it - to cross the t's and dot the i's on legislation. If this were done there might be a few more Members here today. The reason they are not here is because they are looking into potholes, ensuring ditches and hedges are cut and attending Johnny's funeral, but they are not here examining legislation because the entire thing is a mess. The programme for Government includes a promise to give local authority members more power. I hope the Government follows through on this but it would be a first.

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