Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the one hand, the parliamentary time it is taking to undo the bureaucratic monster, which is the legacy of the previous Government, is a waste, but, on the other, it epitomises the wanton waste in which the previous Government engaged like a juggernaut out of control spewing out cash. The €60,000 saving resulting from this Bill might be small but, as Deputy Tom Hayes said, it is part of an overall package. Yesterday, we dealt with regulations to downsize political administration. We will also have fewer VECs, the number of county enterprise boards has reduced and a clatter of other publicly funded organisations are being reformed by being merged, amalgamated or abolished. It is taking a great deal of time and effort on the part of civil servants, Ministers, Oireachtas committees and parliamentary draftsmen. The legacy of Fianna Fáil, the Progressive Democrats Party and the Green Party in government is the two years the current Government has had to spend on the "de-quangoisation" of Ireland.

The Bill includes a commitment to maintain Civil Defence numbers at their current level of 6,500 but there is scope to do a little more. Significant emphasis has been put on volunteerism over the past few years. In 2013, The Gathering will be one of the Government's major initiatives. The Civil Defence will have an important role to play at events that are planned throughout the country. Bearing in mind that the population has increased and the number of people, unfortunately, as a result of the economic collapse who have time on their hands and want to put it to good use in their local communities has increased, there might be an opportunity for the Department to increase the strength of the Civil Defence because, at the end of the day, civil defence is not only about people helping their communities but also about developing their personal skills, including leadership.

Deputy Tom Hayes alluded to the role the Civil Defence will have in the future dealing with natural disasters, emergencies and so on. It was established in 1950 to provide assurance to the State during the height of the Cold War when nuclear bombs and so on were a threat. Since then, it has evolved into an organisation that is fit for purpose and it responds quickly and effectively. Over the past five or six years, there has been a noticeable change in our climate. One only needs to consider the past summer and the volume of rainfall, which meant land was saturated all the time, channels could not take more water and flooding was a threat. Going forward, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Civil Defence need to examine whether the capability is available to come to the aid of communities more quickly than is the case currently. Deluges and flash flooding are becoming regular occurrences. In 2008, my home town, Newcastlewest, experienced a flash flood and water rose to 20 ft. in a few hours. A small river, the River Arra, burst its banks and, within a few hours, an air sea rescue helicopter was hovering over the town and Civil Defence boats were on the streets. That is not the image we want to see but it is important that the capability, infrastructure and local volunteer network is in place.

I refer to Deputy Ó Fearghaíl's proposal. The Civil Defence has a strong relationship with local authorities, as much of its capital expenditure derives from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. In many cases, Civil Defence officers, including my own in Limerick - Mr. Jos Kirby - are based in local authority offices and, therefore, they have a ready made link to the Department. As reform evolves, the Minister might consider more devolution into the local authority structure from the Department of Defence to give chief executive officers and local authority members a role in setting targets for the Civil Defence. The organisation will be party to the formulation of major emergency plans for local authorities, which is positive, but local authority members, engineers and local gangers on the roads have the knowledge about where flooding is likely and so on. It is on that basis that the organisation might migrate in the long term into the local authority structure.

A sum of €60,000 is 1% of the overall budget but the Government is progressing with the "de-quangoisation" of the country and trying to restore a semblance of accountability. Restoring the Civil Defence to the Department of Defence begs the question: why was it moved out of there in the first place? Given this will happen, we must examine whether greater efficiencies can be made. My sole criticism of the Government parties is that they are not getting the message out about the number of quangos that have been changed in a short time. Last year, I tabled parliamentary questions to every Minister to elicit the number of quangos, State boards and talking shops in one form or another that had been abolished, merged or subsumed and there was a huge number. A review of the reforms that are being made should be carried out on an annual basis by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

I pay tribute to the Civil Defence in my own county. Given the local authorities in Limerick are being merged, as they are in Tipperary, the organisation will face a challenge in the county, no more than the fire service and other emergency services provided by the two local authorities. However, there is potential for greater synergies between the fire and emergency services and the Civil Defence and to subsume them into a more integrated, responsible and accountable local authority system. I commend the Bill to the House.

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