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

I thank the Deputies who made a contribution on Second Stage of the Electoral, Local Government and Planning and Development Bill. I stated at the outset that this would not be the most Earth-shattering Bill in the world but we have to deal with a number of technical issues that relate to the current reform programme in local government. It also deals with European election boundaries because of the decision of the Heads of Council in recent days, and we are reducing the number from 12 seats to 11. I was interested in Deputy Stanton's comments on the numbers of members and the context of single-seat constituencies. We must divide 11 seats among the population to give fair representation to everybody, amounting to 400,000 people per member. Some parts of the country, particularly in the west and north west, will require a fair bit of geography in order to give that critical mass of population per member. With the best will in the world, there will be a bit of travelling for the member elected in that region. There is a system in place under the Electoral Acts, with an electoral commission similar to that of the Dáil that will consider the matters. I know the Deputy's personal views on matters related to electoral reform, which are being discussed as part of the Constitutional Convention. I will not create a new process with this Bill for the European elections in 2014. Perhaps some of the suggestions made by the Deputy will be in place for the following elections.

I am very committed to the establishment of an electoral commission, which is in the programme for Government. We hope to advance proposals on that in 2014 and it is hoped it will be in place in time for the 2016 general election. A number of Members mentioned the register of electors and in the context of the electoral commission we are considering how to do better in ensuring the citizen is engaged more in the process of being interested in politics and wanting to put their name on the register. Political parties have a role to play in this regard, as Deputy Ferris mentioned. As political parties, we are not as good as we were in going out to meet the electorate on an individual basis, but there are sufficient communication tools at our disposal to allow us engage with citizens and ensure they do not forget to register. We should make it as easy as possible for them to do so, particularly when it comes to marginalised people in the community and non-nationals. The problem is not unique to those groups.

There was mention of community councils and I am considering the concept in the context of a local government Bill. Many of the suggestions from Deputies Cowen, Catherine Murphy and other speakers are appropriate to another Bill, which will be published in the autumn and enacted before the end of the year. That will be significant legislation and I look forward to the constructive and open engagement from all sides of the House in getting this right. The notion of having the community and voluntary sector empowered with local government through the municipal districts is something of which I am very conscious, and we do not want to create a democratic deficit in any locality that could be filled by other means. There must be a structure in place with the democratic and accountable autonomy of local government that is able to guide the process and ensure a group of people does not come together just to set up a structure to compete with an existing municipal council or district. We must watch out for that and ensure that whatever is established is accountable.

I am very conscious of the need for citizen participation in all aspects of government and there is no better place for it than at local government level. That is why we will ensure, contrary to Deputy Cowen's ungenerous comments, the Government's programme and my personal commitment to devolve as much power and function as we can from national agencies and the national Government to local government. This is the first time with any local government reform package or policy agreed by Government where the first port of call will be local government. There is a capacity in local government but, unfortunately, since the abolition of rates on land and houses in 1977, we have taken all the financial autonomy and wherewithal from local councils. We have not prioritised local resources at a local level, based on the priorities of the democratically elected local councillor. Anybody who has read Putting People First, the action programme for effective local government that was published last October, will see that the intent of the policy document, which will be enshrined in legislation, is to reverse all the bad work and policy done since 1977 as a result of abolishing domestic rates and rates on agricultural land. There were also changes in motor tax introduced in order to get a 20 seat majority in the 1977 election. Moreover, many agencies of the State had activities centralised that should have been going on at local level.

I have reduced the number of agencies from 21 to ten in my Department alone.

They were never necessary but, because of the times we were in, it was felt we could solve every problem by throwing money at it or setting up a committee or an agency. That day is over and I will make sure we have, on behalf of the taxpayer, an effective and efficient means of delivery of services without duplication of structures, staffing or any other facet of government, national or local.

I very much support Deputy Lawlor's comments on planning and development matters and I am on record in this regard in opposition as well as in government. I will work closely with the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who has the delegated functions in this area, to see what we can do in the forthcoming planning and foreshore Bill, which will be published in the autumn. This will give us an opportunity to consider planning matters and policies that have not worked, such as the Part V provisions, which, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, became developer-led rather than being led by local authorities and their elected members in the interest of the wider community. I subscribe to his comments and I am very much in favour of getting local authorities back into the business of building houses again in line with what he suggested. They have been pushed aside over the past 20 years from the doing the work they were set up to do, which is to generate economic and social activity in their own communities with the help of money from the Exchequer and locally by adopting plans agreed by local authority members to get people working and to deliver services at local level - particularly housing, which is essential to every family - as quickly as possible. I assure the Deputy we are engaged in initiatives that will be based around local government, which will give a stimulus to the construction sector and which will give hope to the people on our housing waiting lists as we attempt to transfer the various financial supports the State gives to the private sector through the RAS and so on into the local government system.

The Bill is not intended as a major review of law. In the electoral area, I have taken the opportunity to address a few provisions, particularly in the context of political funding. Few people acknowledge the fact that we have effectively taken the chequebook out of politics and we have provided more money in the public system while retaining the opportunity at local level for small financial donations to be made to people in the political system to support various small events for local election candidates. The days of vast amounts swashing around in the political system are, rightly, over. There was not a level playing field in this regard in the past and I have sought to improve it.

I thank everybody for their contributions. I look forward to dealing with the remaining Stages and to enacting this modest legislation prior to the summer recess.

See this speech in context