Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ten minutes for Deputy Ó Cuív.

This Bill prolongs that failure. There is a broader trend across the globe of ordinary citizens being alienated from the decision-making process. Power is seen to be exercised by faceless bureaucracies. Putting decision making on local issues back firmly in the hands of local people is a critical step in addressing this disparity of power. There is immense potential in how we reshape our local political structures, engage citizens, strengthen representation and deliver on the ground. Real political reform must start from the corridors of Cabinet power and go all the way to the local community hall. We need a local government system and a local government Bill that provides local leadership, engages citizens and gives them a voice in local decisions. This Bill fails in that area. We need a system that delivers on the ground in seeking to support local business, revitalise town centres, sustain local sports and recreation developments and work in partnership with educational providers. This Bill fails in that area. Fianna Fáil has put forward a detailed radical alternative that can achieve these goals and will underpin our amendments to this Bill. It is incumbent upon Opposition parties to put forward detailed and constructive alternatives if they are willing to grasp the nettle and genuinely change how local government works.

Today's Bill misses that opportunity to take a radical approach to government from the bottom up. The Minister has traded that chance in exchange for a few headlines relating to re-balancing councillor numbers and slashing town councils. The elimination of 80 town councils across the country and the removal of councillors from rural areas with an increase in Dublin threatens to exacerbate the gap between elected representatives and citizens. Instead of radical reform, we will have the centralisation of power through the abolition of town councils. Rather than moving power closer to the citizen, this Bill will see it become even more distant. In place of efficiencies, we will have large, inflexible organisations where size is mistaken for savings.

Power should rest at the closest possible level to the citizen. This is a principle enshrined in the Maastricht treaty and the Council of Europe's Charter of Local Self-Government to which Ireland is a signatory. It is bitterly ironic that the last census revealed that the biggest population growth has occurred in towns of over 10,000 people when we are here discussing the abolition of their main forum for self-governance. Ireland now has 62% of its population in urban areas and we need to be more imaginative in addressing urban governance rather than what is proposed in this Bill, which is a slash and burn policy with no thought as to its impact. At a time when towns across the country are suffering in the middle of the recession and when vacancy rates scar our streets, the Minister and Government, by virtue of this Bill, are threatening to remove focal points for town centre revitalisation.

This Bill replaces these forums for local work with emasculated municipal district councils which lack any real powers or independent fiscal autonomy. In the absence of a clear alternative structure that will fight the corner of struggling towns across the country, this legislation undermines the leadership these areas need. I am not necessarily engaging in a simple defence of the status quo. Town councils must change, be made to work more and better for people and be standardised to avoid the current bizarre discrepancies in representation but we cannot and should not abandon Irish towns. We need to support these urban centres which play such a vital role both for their residents and their hinterlands. This takes real political leadership, not a crude cut and run strategy as enshrined in the Local Government Bill.

Real political leadership takes ownership of problems and slices through bureaucratic problems. A directly elected mayor has the potential to achieve that role in cities across Ireland and ultimately across all local authorities.

This Bill offers a half-hearted measure to bring a directly elected mayor to Dublin. The Government should fully grasp the nettle of reform and outline a far more radical vision of what mayors can achieve. The argument for directly elected mayors rests upon the concept of leadership. A key individual can provide an opportunity to drive forward an agenda, fight for the advancement of local government needs, heighten the visibility of the local authority and the locality, broaden engagement with the public and promote greater accountability. In the Irish case a directly elected mayor would require specified powers. A full-time remunerated position should effectively replace the county manager position. There is no reason why other urban centres, such as Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, could not be led by directly elected mayors before moving to implement this model across all counties in the long term. This incremental process would allow for sharing of best practice among local authorities. Rather than unelected bureaucrats driving local authorities, they should have democratically mandated leaders.

The Minister has claimed this Bill provides the most radical reform of local government in 100 years. In reality, however, the actual powers and functions of local government will remain the weakest in the western world. It is disingenuous of the Government to state otherwise. Water services have already been stripped from local authorities under the Government's plans for Irish Water. No real new powers have been added. Aside from tinkering around with enterprise plans, the role of local authorities remains severely restricted. Behind the jargon and acronyms Merrion Street and the Custom House have kept a tight rein on the capacity of local government to tackle local problems. There are no new powers in educational partnerships, Garda oversight, sports and recreation or competitive funding with public private partnerships. In terms of fiscal autonomy, which is the crux of the issue, there is little real progress. The local property tax of €500 million per annum is effectively replacing the local government fund, which has already been cut to the bone. The suggestion that it represents new revenue is the worst type of spin. Local residents will come to see the bare faced nature of that claim as local services continue to suffer and decline. This Bill contains no fresh initiatives such as tax increment financing or an overhauled commercial rates system that would provide a badly needed shot in the arm of the local economy. The idea of competitive funding pots, where instead of centralised block grants councils are encouraged to collaborate with the private sector to put forward proposals on spending projects, is entirely absent. The ability of local authorities to take the initiative with real financial powers remains non-existent. There is nothing radical about that.

In February 2011, the Irish people sent an unmistakable message that they wanted real reform. The defeat of the Seanad referendum earlier this month underlined that thirst for genuine change. Changing how we do politics must be a comprehensive exercise that encompasses all tiers of the State, ranging from the Cabinet and the Oireachtas all the way to local government. They cannot be treated in isolation because the entire system is interlinked. Deputies filling the vacuum of weak local government representation has a knock-on effect on their role in parliamentary oversight and scrutiny. Fianna Fáil has a radical vision for the future of local government involving genuine reform of the tier of the State that is closest to the citizen. It forms part of a broader package of reform we have prepared in regard to changing the way the Dáil works, the Dáil's relationship with the Cabinet and a new vision for how the Seanad can play a meaningful role in Irish politics. Taken together, this holistic series of measures can transform Irish politics. When we look at local government we have to bear this bigger picture in mind.

We believe local government should involve the retention of town councils and enhancement of councils in towns with a population of over 7,500. New voluntary community councils could be established to represent areas with no town councils Local referendums could be held on major local issues, such as local area plans. A new cabinet style system could replace council policy groups to offer greater accountability and a bigger role in shaping local policy. New anti-corruption plans, including enhanced auditing systems, complete transparency on planning issues and mandatory declaration of interests, could be drawn up and a greater role in local government could be developed for the Standards in Public Office Commission. Enhanced supports could be provided for local businesses, including new competitive funding pots for enterprise initiatives and new local credit facilities for SMEs. These are the kind of radical ideas that will help create a system of governance fit for purpose in 21st century Ireland and they will form the basis of our amendments to this Bill. These measures would give citizens the opportunity and financial strength to pursue fresh solutions to the problems of struggling local businesses, inadequate sports facilities or anti­social behaviour, and transform the nature of governance in Ireland into a more responsive process that tackled the issues people care about.

The country has a thirst for real reform and this debate presents an opportunity for agreeing reforms. However, with the Local Government Bill 2013 the Government is seeking to develop the most centralised State in the western world. Powers are being stripped from local authorities, councils are being slashed and Merrion Street will continue to hold the purse strings.

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