John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the early 2000s, we had Better Local Government initiated by one of our own Ministers, Noel Dempsey, and continued by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin. We had county managers and directors of services and total bureaucratic control of the councils was initiated at that time. I always believed that the county secretary, the county manager and the county engineer approach was far better because at least there was someone with responsibility in the council to whom one could go. In latter years when one contacted or wrote to the county manager about an issue, he would refer it to the director of services who would refer it to the area engineer who would refer it to the district engineer. No one accepted responsibility. I hope that whatever changes come about, we will see some changes in that area and that someone in the local authority accepts responsibility at the top in respect of representations made.

In refer to the abolition of town councils. I served on Enniscorthy Town Council for many years and I always believed this was where democracy was closest to the citizens. Now town councils will be abolished and will be replaced by municipal districts. There is no explanation as to how a municipal district will operate. Will it have a chairman? Will it have a specified budget or will it be dependent on the amount of money handed down from county council level? I agree with Deputy Creed that municipal districts do not fit in here and that we should go back to a town and district council. If we had Enniscorthy town and district council, Wexford town and district council and New Ross district council, it would sound better as we would be including the town in the name. The Minister should consider that suggestion which did not come from this side of the House but from Deputy Creed and others on his side. It would be far better if the town was included in the name.

In my area, there will be an eight seater. If I was a betting man - sometimes I have a flutter on the old horses - I would bet that we will have three people elected from the town and five from the rural area in the local elections next May. I will not predict who they will be but I think that is what the line up will be. I fear that when it comes to divvying up the spoils at a municipal authority meeting, the towns will lose out because certain rural councillors will be more inclined to spread the money into the rural areas. There will be a deficit in terms of democracy for the towns. That is an area the Minister needs to look at before he finalises the Bill.

NAMA seems to operate like the third secret of Fatima. What role will NAMA play in local authorities in the future? It seems to hold the aces when it comes to the housing programme for local authorities. There is no reference to NAMA in the Bill. We have been told by the Minister and others that there are 4,000 houses available through NAMA but the slowness of decision-making in NAMA is a concern in local authorities and among local authority members. We had the farcical situation in Enniscorthy where Enniscorthy Urban Council bought houses from a contractor who went into NAMA. It had such difficulty dealing with NAMA that the urban council walked away. It did not conclude the deal with NAMA in respect of the 13 houses because of the bureaucracy and red tape and lack of co-operation. How will the Minister speed up decision-making in NAMA?

I believe he should be able to come into the House and name the specific areas in each county where houses are available through NAMA. Perhaps the local representatives, the council officials and the NAMA officials might work together in such circumstances to ensure the houses in question are allocated to the councils as quickly as possible. I read somewhere that some local authorities have rejected NAMA houses. I find that amazing, considering the number of people who are on the housing list in every local authority area.

There is concern among councillors and officials that Irish Water seems to be operating in a secretive way. Nobody can get answers on where Irish Water will fit in at local authority level in the future. Will the people who are currently employed in the water sections of local authorities remain with those authorities? Will they transfer to Irish Water eventually? Someone said it will take 15 years to transfer them to Irish Water. There is concern in this regard. Irish Water is installing meters, digging trenches and causing water leaks and ESB problems in Wexford town at the moment. People are asking me whether Irish Water or the client for whom the water meter is being installed will ultimately pay for the meter. That issue needs to be cleared up.

I understand that local Leader programme companies are to be based in the local authorities. The Minister has told me that while they will be based in the local authorities, they will not actually form part of those authorities. He has said that those who are employed on Leader programmes will not become local authority workers - they will remain on contract. Maybe the Minister might clear that up as well.

There are some good points and some not so good points in the Bill. I do not think it will ultimately take power away from the bureaucrats and the county managers and give it to the citizens and the local representatives who will be elected next May. The post of manager will be replaced by the post of chief executive. That sounds good, but I am concerned they will have more powers than the county managers already have. I feel that many county managers act like they are infallible. They are certainly not in tune with the views and ideals of many elected representatives. Now that they are to be called chief executives, will they have much more power than they have had previously? God knows they have had enough power up to now without giving them any further powers.

I would like to mention another aspect of this matter that always concerns the general public. Our salaries and expenses are in the public domain. We might know what a county manager's basic pay is, but we do not know what increases or expenses he or she gets. All of that should be available to the public. The salaries of county managers, like those of Deputies and Ministers in this House, are funded by those who pay rates and taxes.

The Minister initially said that 80% of the receipts from the local property tax would go to local authorities. He seems to have rowed back on that more recently. He is now saying that councillors will have the power to increase or decrease the property tax in the future. This concerns me greatly because in the past, councillors around the country increased rates more often than not when they were short of a few bob. I would say it happened 99% of the time. If the county manager says when the budget is being considered next year that the local authority has a shortfall of €20 million, €30 million or €50 million, it is likely that he or she will propose an increase in the local property tax rate. Judging by the record of councillors in the past, when they went along with the views of county managers more often than not, the proposed increase will be sanctioned in such circumstances. I would be concerned about giving them these powers because, as I have said, they usually go in the wrong direction and increase the rates.

I think this Bill needs to be amended. I hope the Minister will accept amendments to some areas of it on Committee Stage. I support Deputy Creed's suggestion that the Minister should call these bodies "town and district councils" rather than "municipal districts". I think the word "town" needs to be used. I think "Enniscorthy town and district council" sounds much better than "Enniscorthy municipal authority".

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