Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)

There should be a greater input at committee level on the drafting of legislation and people with expertise in all aspects of business, be it industry, agriculture, the economy, education, financial services or health should be integrated into the committees. Such people could be selected from the public. I appreciate that many Members of the Oireachtas have expertise in various sectors but we should include people with proven ability and knowledge at the initial committee level and following research and meaningful debate at that level we should proceed to debate in the parliamentary Chambers.

There should be more debate across the floor of the Dáil. More thought should be given to good, practical proposals rather than the existing format which has been used in Parliament through the years. It is a case of them and us. There is much more co-operation between members at local government level. Such a system works well if it is done in such a way that people accept the good points that are made from whatever quarter. Much can be achieved from such an approach if good propositions are taken on board.

Reference is made in the motion to meaningful local government reform. That is an area with which I am more familiar. Local authorities in their existing form exemplify local and democratic government at its best at a local level. Evidence of that is provided in larger towns where there are efficient and capable town councils. County councils have area offices in smaller towns where services are available for the public. That is the most effective way of delivering services and accountability. County councils have stood the test of time since 1899. They are democratically elected every five years and they are accountable.

Local development partnerships and RAPID programmes should be linked into local authorities and be synchronised with their work at local council level. County enterprise boards are doing a reasonably good job. It would maximise their results if they were even more integrated. I would prefer a system whereby they would report back to county councils rather than the current arrangement of reporting back to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation. Many grants could also be administered at county council level, for example, social welfare protection grants and HSE grants. Such work would be more cost effective and could be done more expeditiously by county councils. Rent allowance should be transferred from the HSE to local authorities as soon as possible.

Much adverse comment has focused on the representation levels in this country. It is a proven fact that there are more public representatives in France and Switzerland than in this country. We are below the EU average per head of population. In Kerry South alone the population density is only a quarter of the EU average over a sprawling constituency. Connectivity is important. There is no point in comparing governments in Ireland and France or other European countries because they have a different tradition from ours. Our product has worked well in the past, particularly in the area of tourism. Now, after the visit of President Obama, we should capitalise on that worldwide, particularly in the area of genealogy.

See this speech in context