Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

I never had to deal with the secret service. The Government claims that the intention of this Bill is to eliminate waste and increase efficiency by allowing for one or more bodies, such as the local government management services board, to act as a single provider of specified services rather than each of the 34 local authorities providing or acquiring these services separately.

The Government's statement on public service reform in November last year sets out the rationale for reducing the total number of State bodies or agencies in existence and sets out each Department's target in that regard for 2012. It states that a new and expanded programme of State agency rationalisation will rationalise 48 such bodies by the end of 2012, with a further 46 to be critically reviewed by June 2012. These measures will deliver enhanced service efficiencies, together with ensuring a more focused and democratically accountable public service. We would support that if it could be done. However, shockingly, no regulatory impact analysis has been carried out on this Bill. As a result, there are no figures available with regard to the overall savings which may be made as a result of the specific changes proposed in the Bill. There is significant spin in the Bill, but there is no detail. This has been the hallmark of legislation from the Department to date. In the case of the septic tank Bill, we got very little or no detail of the financial implications or the supports that would be provided. In the case of the household charge, we got no detail on the number of homes that would have to pay it and in the case of water metering, we got no detail on who would be metered. Now we are being asked to vote for this Bill, but no impact analysis has been done to explain it. This is a flaw in the legislation.

In conclusion, Sinn Féin proposes that if its amendments are not accepted, the Bill should be opposed, as it gives too much power to two Ministers, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to reorganise, merge or abolish agencies without any consultation with the Oireachtas, relevant agencies or local authorities and representatives of local government bodies.

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