Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Local Government Bill 2013, which is an attack on local democracy. While some Members will say the Bill includes several provisions which provide benefits, people will see it for what it is, namely, an attack on local democracy. This legislation seeks the abolition of town councils throughout Ireland which up to now have served a useful purpose at local level. I acknowledge that they are not perfect and should be reformed. The Bill also proposes a reduction in the number of elected councillors countrywide. At a time when people are saying there is a democratic deficit in the country, the Government's response is to reduce the number of elected members thereby increasing that deficit and removing from people access to local representatives.

Of concern is the proposal to abolish the regional authorities. Under this Bill, town councils and regional authorities will be abolished and the number of county councillors is to be reduced. It is possible for Government to do this because it has a majority in this House. The Government tried to abolish the Seanad but the people of Ireland stopped it in its tracks. I believe that if the people were asked to vote on this legislation they would respond similarly. Essentially, the people do not trust this Government when it comes to political reform.

Also of concern is Part 9, which provides the Minister with the power to dissolve existing regional authorities. The power to establish regional assemblies is being given not to the Government, the Dáil or the people of Ireland but to the Minister. It is proposed to establish three regional assemblies, one in the eastern midlands area and two others in Connaught-Ulster and the southern region. There are currently eight regional authorities in existence. It is proposed all will be abolished. The cumulative effect of abolishing local direct democracy and regional authorities, to which local councillors are elected, is a further erosion of the link between people and their elected representatives. This legislation was drafted by bureaucrats and officials and is an official's dream. The Bill also proposes that county managers will be renamed chief executive officers, who will be less accountable in the future.

The Minister referred to the establishment of the municipal districts, which will have only minor powers such as the ability to rename the Cathaoirleach and so on. They will have no real power, no budget and no fund-raising authority. It is clear from the briefing we received that under this Bill that while municipal districts will also have the reserve function of establishing a community fund, their financial authority will be less than that currently held by a rating town council. As stated, some town councils are small. The proposed new municipal districts will be substantially larger but will have less financial autonomy. The Minister has stated this will bring democracy down to a local level. However, it will also remove the financial autonomy in this area.

I believe this legislation is a manger's dream because the municipal districts will be like beefed up area committees. There will be more meetings on a monthly basis and, as time goes on, fewer full meetings of the local county councils and local county managers will be less answerable to the local county council elected members. I can foresee a situation whereby meetings will be held only quarterly with a decision being taken to conduct all business at municipal district meetings. Municipal district meetings will be akin to area committee meetings. Democracy only works if there is transparency and the people know what is happening. We all know that local media is stretched in terms of even attending council meetings once a month. They do not have the resources to do any more because they are dependent on advertising and sales revenue. This will result in less reporting on what is happening at meetings on the radio and in print media and less reporting on local authority activities. I can foresee a situation whereby less will be discussed at monthly council meetings because everything will be up for discussion at the municipal district meeting. This means the public will not know what is going on.

I am seeking clarification on a number of issues, including where the local development plans will fit into these new sub-county structures. Will they be a reserved function of municipal districts or will local area committees have an input into them? While some local area committees cross several towns, Kilkenny city is split down the middle and it would make no sense for the municipal district to have a say in such a situation. Another issue of concern is that of policing committees. Up to now town councils included policing committees. As some town councils are to be abolished, will this result in a further erosion of the liaison between the policing committees and local communities? I take it counties that had two or three policing committees will in future have only one. I do not believe it will be practical for the Gardaí to service the municipal districts. There are not sufficient numbers of superintendents in the Garda Síochána to do so and someone below the rank of superintendent would not have the authority to speak on behalf of the superintendent at those meetings. This will result in difficult situations in this area also.

I would like now to speak about financial accountability. Schedule 3 deals with the power of local authorities to vary the rate of the local property tax. That one local authority can decide to increase its rate at the same time as another decides to reduce the rate in its area will lead to difficulties and an unfair situation for many people. People are being told this will Bill provide additional powers for local government.

In fact, it will be used in some cases to the disadvantage of local government. Central government will eventually tell local government politicians and officials that if they want more money, they can increase the rate of their property tax. That will put an unfair burden on certain parts of the country which do not have the same base as other counties.

The funding issue is wrong. There was an opportunity for the role of the local government auditor to be amalgamated with the Comptroller and Auditor General. It is wrong in every respect to enhance that role in this Bill, especially in a situation where the Government spends about €50 billion per annum yet uses a completely separate structure to deal with the local government fund that funds local authorities, which is only in the order of €1 billion per annum, or perhaps €2 billion if we include funding for roads as well. Why should we have a Comptroller and Auditor General auditing all Government expenditure, while 2% to 5% of that is set aside for a local government auditor? There should be one auditor to set the standards. I know people have complaints about the role of auditors, but there is less transparency with the local government audit than with the annual reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the latter's office would have greater standing.

A new committee is being set up which will lead to more bureaucracy for more officials in the Department. Who is the local government auditor at the moment? I do not wish to know the name of the person, but I presume it is an official in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. They are not independent of local government. They are not independent of the Minister. They are officials of the Department and work under the Secretary General. The auditing of local authorities should be removed from persons below the rank of Secretary General in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. This is another example of where officialdom in the Custom House won the day. This is more power, more procedures and more committees. The Minister has spoken about setting up some national audit committee to deal with all these issues, which I believe will be called the national oversight and audit commission. We do not need such a commission to deal with 5% of Government expenditure. The local government auditor should be subsumed and I have made my point clearly about that.

There is nothing in this Bill about the real functions of local authorities. On 1 January, all powers in respect of water, sewerage and waste water services will be transferring to Irish Water. We have seen a diminution in the authority of local authorities. We have seen the increasing role of the National Roads Authority, not just in respect of the motorways, but also regional roads and even national secondary roads, in determining maintenance programmes. A local authority cannot even move a bend off a regional road nowadays without an inspector from the NRA coming down to state whether it is right or not. We have systematically reduced the power of local authorities and their ability to respond at local level.

I will hand over to Deputy Calleary. This is well dressed up as a reform of local government, but it is no more than an attack on local democracy.

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