Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ireland currently operates under an almost totally centralised system of governance. Despite the language used in the Bill to give the impression that the Government would like to move away from this profoundly anti-democratic situation, the Bill does nothing of the sort. The phrase "local authority" is bandied about throughout the Bill but it is a contradiction in terms because there is next to nothing in the Bill that furnishes any meaningful authority on the system of local government in Ireland. If we had real local authority, the people might have a voice when it comes to things that happen in their areas and communities. However, we do not have that at the moment. People are upset about things that are happening locally.

I come from a rural background and it is shocking how so many villages and townlands have deteriorated due to Government policy. I am referring to central government policy, not local government policy, because local government does not really have a say in the matter. Small schools are under pressure and the closure of Garda stations and post offices continues. People in certain areas of the country are looking at huge pylons being erected closer to houses than they would like. These are seen as a potential challenge to their health. Do these people have a say in what is happening? Can they talk to their local councillor, who might represent them at local authority level? No, they cannot, because he has no power. The local councillor has a say in the five-year development plan but that is all. He does not have a position of responsibility within the local authority.

Local authorities are run from central government. Central government appoints the managers. Now we are going to change the name to "chief executive". This is probably fitting because "chief executive officer" is a term more associated with the private sector. Given that there is such an undermining of local authorities at the moment, one could be forgiven for suspecting that in the long term the project could be to privatise what is left of any form of local administration. I use that term because there is no local authority, only a local administration governed by central authority in Dublin.

It would be wonderful if people could have a voice because then we might have something that resembles democracy. However, our democracy today is not like that. We may take the view that it is great to have elections. It is wonderful. Every five years people can vote for whoever they like or whoever happens to appear on the ballot paper. Is that as far as democracy goes? Really, that is about it. People seem to have no other say in how their communities are run between elections every five years. That is not my concept of democracy. Democracy should mean that people actually have a say in how things are organised, that is, things which affect them directly and which affect their children and communities. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, said with a straight face that this will be an improvement. Fair play to him, because that takes doing.

I am familiar with the way in which a certain village in Italy works, where there is local authority and it has a say in education and in health. It controls local health and local education, still controls the refuse and makes sure the roads are cleared of snow in the winter. It organises all kinds of facilities and community projects for the old people and looks after the young people by taking care of all the sports grounds in the area of whatever type they may be. It is real local authority; it is community. People who can discern a return in services for the taxes they pay feel a bit better about paying tax. However, when all one's money disappears into a central fund and one has no idea where it goes, it is very hard to feel the same way about it. The democratic deficit in the form of a lack of real local authority in Ireland is one of the biggest problems facing Irish society.

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