Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the move to reform local government in Ireland. It is long overdue. I would have gone much further but it is a start. The reorganisation that is taking place and the streamlining into municipal districts will prove to be a success. There is some fear of that but when we see the way local area committees work in urban areas, I believe these municipal districts in local town areas will work very well.

I welcome that the Bill devolves responsibility for the preparation of the municipal budgets. That is very important because the true power is controlling the budget. I am a little concerned about the manner in which the county or city budgets will be formed and the influence the new chief executive will have. The budget must be prepared at the direction of the elected councils, and I ask the Minister to look at that aspect of the legislation.

I am disappointed that these structures will not be delivered in Dublin for at least seven years. I welcome the setting up of a working group chaired by Fr. Sean Healy to work on how we can connect citizens into the decision making process at local government. That announcement by the Minister last night is very worthwhile and I believe it will prove to be a success.

The most important powers councillors will gain is the way they can vary the local property tax up or down. That is a real power because they have to make monetary decisions and it will be up to local politicians to take on that power. Those against the property tax have never outlined fully how they would fund local government while giving councillors fiscal powers.

There is one area, however, about which I am very disappointed, namely, the decision not to introduce in 2014 the retention of the 80% of property tax revenue in local authorities where it is sourced. That was a key promise made to people when it was brought in last year. The Minister announced in his Budget Statement on Wednesday, 16 October that the 80% will not be retained at source until 2015. However, as late as 19 September it was Department policy as indicated in a response to a parliamentary question which stated that 80% retention would come into force in 2014; I can supply that parliamentary question to the Minister. The Minister needs to review that.

Many changes have taken place in local authorities in terms of mergers but it would be a down payment on the commitment to reform. I would point out that those type of changes are not happening within the greater Dublin area, and the vast majority of property tax is being collected in the greater Dublin area. That is crucial if the local property tax is to have any credibility.

The Dublin local authorities are not changing and therefore there is no administrative reason the people of Dublin should not receive into their councils the 80% of the property tax collected in their areas in 2014. There is no logical reason the local authorities in the greater Dublin area, or in Galway, cannot receive the local property tax take next year. The Minister said there is a number of reasons for that, including Tipperary councils coming together or the other reforms that are happening outside urban areas, but this is not happening in Dublin. The property tax take is enormous in Dublin. A commitment was given that it would be paid to the local authorities in 2014 but from what we heard in the Budget Statement and from the Minister, Deputy Hogan, that will not happen. I ask for that to be reviewed and rectified.

Another interesting aspect of the Bill is the amount of power the Minister will retain or exercise over the way local government functions. I will deal with a number of sections. Under section 35, councillors would have a very strong role in the appointment of community development boards and the power of approval. That power should not be with the manager or CEO, as he or she is called. I ask the Minister to amend section 35 and enhance the powers of the councillors in that area.

On the appointment of a chief executive manager in Part 7, I welcome the power of veto by local councillors over the appointment of the manager. It will take brave councillors to exercise it.

It is important councillors have a veto in appointing new managers as it will pay dividends in the long run. However, we will need strong and brave councillors to do that. I would like to see the powers of councillors to hold the chief executive officer to account strengthened, with specific powers of enforcement over policy decisions. Something more than a report, which the legislation states, is needed. I also welcome the changes to the planning powers under section 140 as a result of what came out of the tribunals.

I am a Dublin Deputy and, like Deputy Ellis, I spent many years on Dublin City Council. This legislation says that Dublin can wait. We will not get a plebiscite until the local elections and if the people decide to have an elected mayor, we have been promised legislation two years later but we will not have a directly elected mayor for the greater Dublin area until the following local elections. We will not see real change in our capital city for seven years, which is too long. It is not only too long for Dublin but for the country.

Dublin is not in competition with the rest of Ireland but is in competition with cities like Paris, London, Birmingham and Madrid for foreign direct investment. We need a strong champion to champion the needs of Dublin people and to deliver jobs to the Dublin area. If we get that leadership, or that figurehead, we can attract foreign direct investment to the Dublin region, which will increase the taxation take and will help many parts of Ireland.

We need to move away from this anti-Dublin attitude, which arises in this House at times but which is certainly prevalent around the country. Like it or not, the greater Dublin area stretches from Arklow to Drogheda and out to Mullingar and Portlaoise. It is the only large city on this island. When major foreign companies decide where to locate their corporate headquarters, they look at our large urban areas.

We need reform in Dublin and a mayor of the greater Dublin area. We need him or her to champion Dublin and to attract investment, which would benefit the whole country. As this legislation is framed, one is asking Dublin to wait for seven years. It is always said Labour must wait but Dublin and Ireland cannot wait. Dublin is our only major city and this is an opportunity to sell our capital city for foreign direct investment, more jobs, more income and more taxation, which will take us out of this recession. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, to talk to the Minister, Deputy Hogan, about accelerating the speed of change for Dublin. This needs to be done now and not in seven years.

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