Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, who comes from the same county as me. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and I probably know more than most Deputies about the need for local government reform in Limerick. Over the years, we have witnessed the absolute and total failure to take seriously the challenges faced by local authorities around the country. Typically, the possibility of a boundary extension was proposed as a soft answer by those considering how to solve Limerick's problems. When I was a member of Limerick County Council, I often said that the extension of the Limerick city boundary might solve the city's problem but would create a problem for the county.

I was pleased that the Government took the bull by the horns when it came into office and insisted that the two Limerick local authorities should come together. I think this unification will be good for people and businesses in Limerick. It will help to attract inward investment into the city and county. The unifying of the two authorities is being replicated in Tipperary and Waterford and there may be opportunities to do it elsewhere. If I have a concern about this process, it is that I feel it is essential that two local authorities should not be unified at the expense of one authority or the other. As one of the first people to propose the establishment of a single Limerick authority, I often use the expression "whether you are from Mountcollins or from Corbally, you are no less Limerick". The new local authority must spread its emphasis evenly.

I suggest that after this Bill is implemented, the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht should be required to examine on a yearly basis the effectiveness of these local government reforms. In that context, perhaps I could propose that a reference to "local government" be included in the name of the committee. The previous speaker referred to the Better Local Government initiative that was introduced by his party. To my mind, that initiative resulted in bigger local government rather than better local government. When I spent over seven years as a member of a local authority, I found it frustrating to participate in a strategic policy committee or corporate policy group that met infrequently and did not really have a major say. A far more robust system of scrutiny is needed, perhaps involving engagement at Oireachtas committee level. I suggest that the elected representatives and the new chief executives could be invited to come before Oireachtas committees to explain some of their decisions on how to spend taxpayers' money.

Like previous speakers, I am concerned about the impact that the reduction in the number of local authorities and the unifying of local authorities will have on commercial rates. People like the Minister of State who are familiar with rate payers in Limerick city will be aware that they have paid very high rates over the years. There is a concern that when authorities are subjected to this unifying mechanism, there might be a temptation to increase the lower rate rather than reduce the higher rate. It has to be spelled out clearly that such an approach cannot be countenanced by the Government. This mechanism cannot be used as an excuse to shove up rates in towns, villages and city suburbs throughout the country that are to be included in newly incorporated local authorities.

Local authority members are at a disadvantage at the moment. Many Deputies have been members of local authorities in the past. When a new local area plan or county development plan comes before a council, it comes with the advice of the manager. There is never a mechanism within the council for councillors to procure their own advice. A mechanism should be inserted into the legislation to provide that when corporate policy groups are established, a certain amount of money is ring-fenced on an annual basis for advice to be given to such groups. Perhaps we could provide for that mechanism to kick in when two thirds of the members of that group agree to seek legal, financial or other advice from an external expert. Such an independent assessment could be compared to what might be on offer from the executive.

We need to empower our local authority members not only to do the work they do every day, many of them very effectively, but we also need to empower them to challenge the status quo, which will need adequate financial resources.

I have often heard it said in this House that the Government is making great strides to make local government more attractive for women and young people. However, there is an elephant in the room. I was a local authority member and I know it is not a job that can be done easily by someone working in the private sector or in a job where getting time off to attend meetings is difficult. The legislation should provide that local authority meetings be held at a time that suits local authority members and not the staff. In many rural areas local authority meetings are held at 11 a.m. It is not easy for a PAYE worker, a young parent at home, a teacher or a farmer to get time off to attend a local authority meeting in what is not a full-time job and one that is not remunerated properly. I mean that sincerely. I do not believe local authority members are paid properly for the job they do.

The Department, in conjunction with the County and City Managers Association, needs to examine the expectation that it is to be a part-time job with whole-time hours. It needs to insist that local authority members are facilitated in having meetings at times outside the normal working day. We are reducing the number of councils and local authority members and expecting them to cover even bigger areas. As the Minister of State will know, in our part of the world we have new electoral areas in Kilmallock, Newcastle West and Rathkeale that are gigantic. They are bigger than most Dáil constituencies. To be fair to those people, we need mechanisms in place to accommodate them properly if we are to prevent what we are seeing now, which is very good young local authority members announcing they will not stand in the next local election because it is conflicting with their jobs. They cannot get time off and their employers are rightly complaining.

Some people may be concerned about the abolition of town councils. I am from a town of nearly 8,500 people. We do not have a town council. It was abolished in the 1950s and formally went off the Statute Book in the 1990s. Our experience is much the same as what is proposed in the Bill in that the local electoral area committee essentially became the town council for Newcastle West. It also became the town council for places such as Abbeyfeale, Dromcollogher, Rathkeale and Ardagh along with other small towns and villages. There is not massive fear. If one were to ask any businessperson, ratepayer or person on the street if they are concerned about the abolition of town councils, they would say they are not, once they know the services will not be reduced and the rates will not increase. Those are the two things that concern people.

I agree with Deputy Browne on the Freedom of Information Act requests made to Oireachtas Members and local authority members. That information should be made available for directors of service and the new chief executives being introduced. Everybody in the public service should be able to account for the money spent on himself or herself regardless of whether they are elected. They should have nothing to be afraid of in publishing their expenses.

There seems to be a constant need for local area plans and local development plans. I know the Minister of State has a particular interest in this given her responsibility for planning. The cost associated with renewing these development plans is something we will need to consider from a legislative point of view. We are recruiting oodles of consultants to renew plans at a time when the building industry has stagnated. I would much prefer to see the existing plans, if the elected members wish, being extended for periods of time and then be approved by the Minister if he sees fit. The renewal of these plans on a every five years is a massive drain on local authority resources at a time when they do not have the money.

I acknowledge the work local authority members do and I particularly acknowledge the role played by the party leaders within local authorities. I was one. I welcome that party leaders will be part of the corporate policy group. For too long the corporate policy group was sacrosanct, and while the chair of a strategic policy committee might get to sit on it, a group leader, who was ultimately was responsible for the local authority, did not get a look in at all.

Regarding shared services, Limerick has a population of 190,000. We will have a single library service, a single environment service, a single housing service, etc. The four counties with the smallest populations that adjoin each other have a combined population of less than Limerick. While each of them will have its own county manager, we need to consider increased levels of shared services. For argument's sake, do we need individual librarians, chief fire officers, and directors of services for environment, housing and sanitary services, each of whom is drawing a salary of in excess of €100,000, in each local authority covering populations of 40,000, 50,000 or 60,000? I do not believe we do. There might be an opportunity for increased roles for senior executive engineers.

I believe the Bill represents a step in the right direction and is long overdue. I wish those standing for election in May well because it is a very difficult thing for anyone to do. Ultimately they will be the final decision makers as to whether this legislation is good. I encourage the Minister and the Department to engage actively with the Oireachtas to ensure that if changes are required, the Government will be willing to take them on board.

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