Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

The motion states there is a critical need for immediate and meaningful Oireachtas and local government to be undertaken in tandem and I agree with that. Sinn Féin supports much of the content of the motion but the party political whip system, which is an initiative of political parties rather than criteria set down by the Dáil or the Government, is not required as an institutional mechanism of the Dáil or any political party would be free to get rid of its grouping or to allow its Deputies to have a free vote. Some commentators might argue that implementing this would negate the need for political parties but no law stipulates one must be a member of a political party and this would not add to meaningful political reform.

We fully endorse the Technical Group's call for reform of local government, which is my focus, as spokesperson on local government. Over the years, people's patience and belief in politics and politicians have been sorely tested by the scandalous mismanagement of the economy, decades of unchecked corruption and by the fact there has been little difference in the policies implemented by the main parties, particularly Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

We are living with the effects of mismanagement of the boom and now the mismanagement of the recession. The neglect of local government is affecting people as they go about their daily lives, whether it is water crises in counties Galway and Clare, commuter bottlenecks, the failure of transport provision in major urban areas, dangerous sections of roads, the lack of support for those trying to create new jobs and set up enterprises in their own communities, the high rates local businesses are forced to pay as cash strapped local authorities seek to raise funds in one of the only ways they are permitted, developments, particularly in my own constituency of Laois-Offaly and the commuter belt around Dublin, without access to essential services, empty homes on ghost estates while tens of thousands of people are still on local authority housing waiting lists or the lack of playgrounds in cities and towns. A significant number of issues need to be addressed. Reform of local government is essential. People should be allowed to exercise maximum control over their daily lives. This is true of Ireland as a nation and it is true of its local communities.

Distant decisions, inappropriate, inefficient and ineffective one-size-fits-all solutions must become a thing of the past. Strategic co-ordination and minimum standard setting is important but, to be genuinely effective, planning and service delivery must be guided by local knowledge. Communities must be freed and empowered to each realise their unique potential. A much narrower range of powers and functions is provided to local government in this State than in other EU states. We do not have local control over most essential public services or economic development. The way it has developed has been bad for democracy and needs to change. In particular, the current system effectively prevents communities and their local public representatives from responding adequately to changes in economic circumstances, yet help from central Government is rarely sufficient. I have heard councillors from all parties complaining about that at local level. The role of local councillors in policy making is too limited. Instead, many important decisions are made by unelected council managers or by the Minister.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government currently has the power to override the democratic will of people and even to dissolve a local council. All of that in turn constrains the ability of ordinary people to exert influence over the decisions that affect them in everyday life. We need to take control over matters of local importance and put them back into the hands of locally elected decision makers. What we have instead in this State is a local government that is stifled by limited powers, under funding, at times corruption, and a lack of vision.

The business of local government must be done differently. Local councils should be centres of community innovation and dynamism. They should be engines to grow and spread prosperity and equality. Local councils should be places where the best and brightest of the community come together to deliver responsive solutions and services and to work co-operatively and efficiently together. Unfortunately, the Local Government Act 2001 did not do that, which was a major disappointment at the time, especially because of what happened to town and borough councils. There is a need to increase the powers of councillors to include appropriate local control over the provision of services such as education, health care, infrastructure, employment, child care and social services.

See this speech in context