Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One might not even get it on Christmas Eve but my point is that at the council annual general meetings, all Members will have seen cases in which the dominant groupings will have circled such opportunities. I believe the former Minister, Liam Kavanagh, introduced the grouping system in the 1980s, which was a step forward in that at least some divvying out was done in respect of the sharing out of such positions. I believe the present Government parties were in power at the time. While this loosened up matters somewhat, no matter what way one turns the grouping system, inside out or upside down, and I have been obliged to do this many times to try to ensure I was not excluded myself, one still is squeezing out one third of the council membership.

I ask the Minister to reconsider. While regional authorities should not be over-large or unwieldy, he should try to ensure it is not a case of replacing Tweedledum with Tweedledee.

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