Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if, with regard to the enhanced function of regional assemblies, the greater number of shared services and centralised procurement which he proposes as part of wider local government reforms, he has taken into account the academic evidence from similar reforms in other countries which shows that hoped-for efficiency savings did not materialise at the scale envisaged, and that there is evidence that beyond populations of 15,000 - 20,000 there is a limited potential for economies of scale in most areas of expenditure; if so, the measures he proposes to ensure that this does not happen here; if he undertook any examination of the role that enhanced municipal councils might play in helping deliver efficiencies in tandem with regional authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46407/12]

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