Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for her very informative opening statement in regard to what is contained in the Bill. I read the explanatory memorandum at the outset and the way it was written was quite technical. However, the Minister of State has explained it succinctly, in layperson's terminology.

My party will support the main thrust of the Bill because it is a set of housekeeping measures that are badly required. One of the issues that struck me when I was a member of the Committee of Public Accounts in the previous Dáil was the number of agencies and sub-agencies within local authorities right across the public sector. They are more commonly known as quangos.

There is such a long way to go with local government reform and there must be a starting point somewhere. In her contribution, the Minister of State mentioned the local government efficiency review which was published in July 2010. I have it to hand and was looking at it earlier today. It cited 106 recommendations, culminating in savings of approximately €511 million. There is a great deal of implementation to be done to address the substantive recommendations in the report. We could do with a further debate in regard to the timeline for the delivery of many of the report's recommendations. I know a group is sitting to work on the implementation of the recommendations. It would be nice to hear how it is getting on with its task and what type of timeline it envisages for the achievement or delivery of many of the good recommendations in the report.

I would like to address some of the specific issues that are dealt with in the Bill before the House. We do not have any particular concerns about them. Some of the bodies to be abolished served useful purposes at certain points in time and made valuable contributions to the country and to society over the years. I refer particularly to Irish Water Safety and An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. As practising constituency representatives, we all come across the issue of libraries from time to time. Libraries make a significant contribution to all sections of society. It is important to emphasise that although An Chomhairle Leabharlanna is being abolished, the merit that is to be garnered from the functions of the library service is not being diminished or diluted in any way. When I speak to people associated with the delivery of the library service in my part of the country, they tell me there has been a significant increase in the number of users of that service, particularly during the recent times the country has been going through.

I wish to speak about some of the bigger-ticket items that are contained in this legislation. The Minister of State mentioned the two Limerick Regeneration agencies. We will probably hear more about them when we debate the amalgamation of the two local authorities in County Limerick. It is fair to say that the two agencies have had a relatively chequered history as they have delivered their remit over the last five years. It is good that they will be subsumed into the new local authority in Limerick. The decisions that are taken by the two regeneration agencies, which have such vast potential, budgets and implications for society and for societal issues in Limerick city and the greater Limerick area, affect areas of County Limerick, north Tipperary and County Clare. It is right that the two agencies will be more directly responsible to the new unitary authority that is proposed to come into being after the 2014 local elections.

On the issue of holding people to account, it is important for our directly elected local public representatives to have more responsibility and more of a direct say. A feature of the establishment of detached State agencies in the local government sector and elsewhere in the public service is that they have largely become unaccountable to public representatives. That has led to a diminution in the role and responsibilities of public representatives, which is not a good thing. If local government reform is to have real and meaningful effect, the role of the public representative has to be enhanced. The powers, the decision-making functions and the collective authority of the members of a council should be enhanced. We need to have a real debate on the financing of local government. We might differ on the application of the Government's water agenda, the levying of the household charge and the potential for property taxes, but we should agree that if there is to be real and meaningful local government reform, we need to consider allowing local authorities to spend those revenues that are generated and collected in their areas. Ultimately, we will have to consider giving local authorities the power to strike their own water and property rates, similar to what happens with commercial rates, if those charges are to be pursued. That would give real decision-making powers to members of local authorities and would make them more accountable to their local electorates.

Those of us who have participated on the margins of recent local elections in this country will be aware that such elections are now being fought on national issues. Real and meaningful debate and engagement on what the relevant authority in an area will do over its five-year term following the election is rare. If we allow those who are elected to local authorities to become more accountable for their own budgets, we will move in the right direction towards real and meaningful local government. The local government budgetary process goes largely unquestioned and unchecked by local authority members. A phoney debate on the commercial rate, which balances the books at the end of the day, takes place every year when local authorities consider their estimates and budgets. There is much more detail to be considered within the budgetary process. I appreciate that the corporate policy subgroups within local authorities have to meet on a number of occasions as part of that process. Having spoken to local authority members throughout the country and received feedback from their conferences, I understand that in many cases no meaningful engagement takes place during the financial and budgetary process. If local authority members were made more responsible for their own local budgets, it would reflect well on democracy. It would make them more accountable and make local communities more aware of the workings of local government and the impact of the policies of the councillors they elect.

I suppose the decision to merge the two local authorities in County Limerick was a compromise that was reached following the debate on the possibility of a boundary extension. The Minister of State and I are familiar with that. I support the decision, in general, because it represents value. The premise and foundation for the decision is to deliver value for money. That is a good thing to do. We know that similar measures will be implemented in counties Tipperary and Waterford. It was recommended that other local authority areas should be merged as single authorities as well. That agenda needs to be driven on post haste. I suggest the job in Limerick has only been half done, however. The part of the University of Limerick campus in County Clare and the urban housing estates on the County Clare side of Limerick city are parts of the city, in effect. My view and that of my party is that they should be incorporated into the Limerick city area. As a representative of the area, the Minister of State is aware that people in those localities voted in the Limerick East constituency until recent times and now vote in the new Limerick City constituency. We know they are part of the extended Limerick city. On that basis, we will table an amendment to provide that the areas in question should be included in the new Limerick local authority administrative area. I have spoken to people in Limerick city, including senior officials in Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council and people associated with the ongoing Denis Brosnan project, who feel the job has only been half-done. The political will should exist to identify those areas as parts of Limerick city. Now is the time to do it right. We will discuss the amendment we have tabled on that basis on Committee Stage.

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