Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his reply. The local government efficiency review identified €511 million worth of savings that could be made across the local authority sector, which is a very significant amount of money. The Minister has told us he intends introducing new revenue raising measures for local authorities, including the household utility charge, which he announced during our last questions session.

What efficiencies will the Minister introduce in the local authority sector prior to committing to the introduction of this charge? This new charge will be levied on all households and will be a new income stream for local authorities. However, we do not have a schedule of identified efficiencies or savings.

For example, will the Minister reduce the number of local authority managers from 34 to 24? Will he reduce the number of directors of services in the second tier of management? Will he amalgamate local authorities along the lines recommended by an bord snip nua?

The Minister said the implementation committee will come back to him on a regular basis but is there a timeline to implement the action plans? What recommendations does he intend to pursue within this timeline?

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