Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, Waterford city, in the context of the arrangements we have made for local government, will have its city status. Second, I want to see an enhancement of how we deliver public services in Waterford city and county. We are in the 21st century and we do not need as many structures as we used to have before. Whatever we can do in terms of the legislation, let us see how we can devolve as many functions as possible from national Government and national agencies, if we need them, to local authority level in places such as Waterford.

Then people will have much more opportunity to be able to decide their own destiny in Waterford in conjunction with greater co-ordination between the counties in the south east.

When I was a member of a local authority there was a great deal of co-ordination. We used to have a lot of meetings between Waterford and Kilkenny. A predecessor of the current Waterford city manager decided to stop such meetings. Perhaps we should resume the process in order to have a better relationship. Waterford could start to have a better relationship with Kilkenny; I would welcome that.

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