Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which is not before time and puts a structure on local governance. Like many others in this House, I spent a period of time on a local council and it was quite enlightening. The amalgamation of the city and county councils of Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford should be extended possibly to my own county of Cork. There are so many connections between the city and county council, it does not seem practical to have two separate authorities.

I welcome the establishment of the economic development special policy committees to support business. This really is a change because much of the criticism of local authorities was that they had no business acumen at all. The local enterprise offices, LEOs, are to be established and they will draw and build on the success of the county enterprise board model which supports up to 33,000 throughout the country, 900 projects per annum and approximately 25,000 training participants. For the first time, the LEOs will bring together, in a structured and coherent manner, the skills expertise and resources of Enterprise Ireland, the county and city enterprise boards and the local authorities for micro and small business. This is a real challenge and I hope it will work. Small business people like myself require local help rather than hindrance.

Many of us have reservations about the abolition of town councils. There is a challenge here because there are towns, such as Mitchelstown in my constituency, which never had a town council. One could argue that Mitchelstown should have had one, that it was at a disadvantage by not having one and that population changes occurred along the way. However, this is a challenge not only for the local representatives but also for communities. When selecting and voting for candidates, people will have to figure out whether they will get representation in their areas.

Something about which I feel strongly and which is a little controversial is that we should pay councillors a proper wage, especially as we will have a lower number. The situation is haphazard currently. Most councillors must hold down a day job if they want to survive because they are currently paid approximately €17,00 per year. If this is the principal and only income coming into the household, it would seem the councillor would qualify for family income supplement. If one has two children, the FIS threshold is €602 per week but the councillor's income is only €326 per week. This is not good enough. I know everybody gives out about the pay of politicians but we need to recognise these people will be doing a very important job. As much as people want to serve their country, they must survive as well.

I remember from my time on the council that one was snowed under by meetings and one went from one meeting to another. Sometimes there is so much going on that it is very hard to get around to the office, or the executive, side of the work. If these councillors have a huge workload, they should get office assistance. I am not sure how much is available. It is fine to go to meetings but one must follow up on them and that takes the time and the skills of a secretarial assistant. If most Deputies lost their personal assistants and secretaries, one can imagine the conundrum they would face. Perhaps there should be a sharing of resources between councillors and Deputies and possibly the specialisation of councillors. We need to balance the resources given to the executive with those being given to councillors.

When committees are being formed, account should be given to one's skills and not how long one has been a councillor. There is no point leaving new councillors off committees for which they are imminently qualified and putting people who have been councillors longer on them. Time does not always educate. Another issue is training for committees. If people get on to committees, they should be trained. A few years ago, there was a big skit about councillors getting training on how to use Facebook. That was not such a bad idea because the social media is becoming incredibly powerful and we need to know about these things.

We need to educate councillors but, more importantly, we need to educate councillors in the areas in which they will make decisions. I sat for a while on an audit committee. I heard one of the Opposition parties give out about how local government will not function but I was the only council member on that audit committee for a year and a half because the other member decided not turn up at all. One cannot have it both ways. One cannot complain and then not have councillors sit on an audit committee which is engaged in oversight. Section 54(3)(a) refers to membership. If somebody cannot turn up, he or she should nominate a substitute in his or her place so that there is proper oversight in the audit sections.

It has also been provided for that one will cease to be a member of the national oversight and audit committee if one does not attend six meetings. The audit situation, which is important, can be overlooked at times. Now is an important time to look at it.

We need to look more closely at the reserved and executive functions of councils. There may have been a tendency for the executive to railroad certain items. There was a breakdown when this happened. Councillors were sometimes, perhaps wrongly, seen to be getting in the way. I must admit I was particularly annoyed at times when certain items were railroaded through under the guise of health and safety. It was not good enough. When we put people in charge of the new councils, it is important for the new members to receive sufficient recognition. In an ideal world, there would be mutual respect between the two groups. This needs to be monitored really closely.

I accept that until now, the only time councillors had much of a say was when budgets and development plans were being agreed. I remember getting a budget document late in the day. I read through it as best I could. I found it difficult to get through all of it. The members of the council did not receive the assistance of an on-site accountant. We were unlucky at the time because none of the members was an accountant. This played into the hands of the executive that was pushing the budget through. We had to take the budget on trust. We need to empower our councillors properly by giving them the correct information and making sure they have the staff they need at their fingertips. This is necessary to ensure the decisions made on behalf of the public are in the public interest. It is a basic requirement.

While I accept that these changes present a challenge, I welcome the emphasis on the reform of local government. I am glad the need to help local business has finally been recognised. The local enterprise offices will have great potential if they are managed properly. I am sure there will be problems and failings along the way. If we get this right, small businesses will be able to create an enormous number of jobs throughout the country. Many schemes, such as the internship programme and the JobsPlus scheme, have resulted from the jobs initiative. One of our biggest issues is that we are not communicating all the new incentives that are out there. Many people involved in small business have told me they did not avail of certain schemes because they did not realise they were available.

It is incumbent on us to try to make local councils welcoming places for those who want to start or expand businesses and are looking for help. Proper assistance needs to be available. Up to now, many people involved in business have felt they will be fine as long as the council stays away from them. That is not the way forward. I welcome this Bill. I look forward to seeing it in action after it has been passed. It is a major step in the right direction.

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