Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on bringing forward this substantial Bill. We have a strong record of local administration but not a strong record of local government. The legislation contains a number of welcome provisions but I am concerned about others. It is a good start given it is the first time in a long period that an effort has been made to substantially examine local government legislation.

I would like to deal with three issues - the replacement of town councils by municipal districts; section 31, which deals with rates liability on vacant properties; and the role envisaged for local authorities in rural development via Leader and partnership groups. Ireland is a small country with finite resources. We have concluded a deal with Europe regarding rural development funding via the next tranche of structural funding and the amount is lower than was previously the case. The challenge is to make sure the maximum funding is available to front-line applicants rather than lose funding in administration. It is inevitable, therefore, that there will be fewer groups if we want to maximise the funds available to applicatants to drive local economies, create jobs, etc. There has to be a realistic acknowledgement of that fact.

One of the weaknesses in the current regime is the lack of interaction between these groups and local authorities and public accountability. They are not subject to freedom of information legislation, for example, something that has been exercising Members in recent days. Substantial public funds are expended by these bodies and, therefore, administrative costs need to be examined. While we need to acknowledge what has been achieved by these groups, the Government needs to point that out less funds are available and resources are finite and administrative overheads need to be reduced. Perhaps heads need to be knocked together. There should be fewer bodies and they should come under the aegis of local authorities. That should not threaten anybody. Local authorities are locally accountable and how we achieve the end game rather than the objective is what is important.

I refer to the abolition of town councils. I am fortunate to represent a town, which has a council with a long and distinguished track record of service. I am reminded of the John Donne poem which opens with the lines:

No man is an island

Entire of itself,

The flaw in the construction of town councils is they were set up as if they could operate independently of their hinterland. As the bell tolls for them, one wonders whether what is to be put in place is the correct structure to replace them. The term "municipal districts" should be dropped from the legislation. We should refer to town and district councils which encompass towns and their natural hinterland. In many respects, the constructs that are being put in place are not ideal. Some are good but many are bad. For example, the Beara Peninsula is enormous and is centred around Castletownbere. It should have a town and district council of its own. The municipal district envisaged for my area encompasses Macroom, a market town, and its hinterland, and Blarney, which has a strong identity as a tourism destination but which also has a strong commuter connection with Cork city. It is probably out of place in that district. However, the legislation is a start and we will need to revisit the municipal district structure. I prefer town and districts and areas are homogenous, unlike many of the proposed districts. I acknowledge the role played by town councillors of all parties and none who have given tremendous service but it is important that towns are connected to their natural hinterland. That is what the Government is trying to achieve but it may not have succeeded entirely.

Economic recovery has been patchy and section 31 proposes to extend the 50% burden on all vacant properties, which is unfortunate. I ask the Minister to examine this again because rural Ireland will be penalised by this. He should not be prescriptive in this regard. It should be left to local authorities to determine. Will the Minister urgently reconsider that section, which should be deleted?

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