Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

It is like a lunatic asylum but there is no power in that system available to the Members who are elected. I would like to see a major change in that regard. Such major change is provided for in the programme for Government.

The management system at local government has been a failure and the power will be transferred from the manager to the people we elect. The people we elect are the people who should have power. If they need expert advice in the form of engineers they can hire that but the people who have the power to make the decisions should be the people who are elected.

In my constituency it is much easier to get an interview with the Taoiseach than with the director of services or planning. It is not possible to get a meeting with senior officials on the council. It is a disgrace that they have been handed that amount of power without any type of check on them whatsoever.

It is about time that we revert to real democracy at local level and give power back to the people through the representatives they elect. I was taken with Deputy Catherine Murphy's idea of district and regional councils. It is worthy of examination. We must take the power at that level away from nameless, inaccessible, unelected power brokers from the county manager down.

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