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

It is ironic that we are discussing the alignment of local government with the community sector when the Leader programme and the local development programme are being held up by the European Union as models of social inclusion. The European Court of Auditors, in condemning what is now proposed by the Government, has recommended that other member states follow the example of what was done in this country in recent decades. If the so-called alignment proposal is implemented, control of funding will be retained in local authorities but not - this is the key point- under the control of the democratically elected councillors. Instead, the control will rest with the county manager and there will be no certainty that funding will go to where it is needed most. In many cases, it will be used by managers to compensate for the drastic cuts in local government funding in recent years. The Government claims these cuts are being made to reflect the removal of water services provision from local authorities. However, the level of cuts is far greater than what is being spent on water services. Moreover, the revenue from the local property tax which was supposed to go towards local services such as parks, libraries, footpaths and lighting has been handed over almost in its totality to Uisce Éireann.

The attacks on the local community development sector are just the latest phase in the onslaught on local democracy and the community sector in which the Government is engaged. These attacks are happening, even though the record of local community development companies and the Leader programme speaks for itself. According to SIPTU, the local community development programme dealt with 47,792 cases in 2012. It was responsible for providing after-school and other outlets for 84,722 young people. In the same year 7,000 people were supported into employment and more than 18,000 took part in education and training projects. This is apart from the 1,900 people directly employed in delivering the programme. That is a remarkable achievement, the evidence of which can be seen in every county. Of course, there are examples of where the schemes have been less successful. However, I can speak authoritatively in saying the programme has been a huge success in County Laois, as I understand it also has been in the Minister of State's county. As I said, the Leader and community development programmes are held up as models of social inclusion by the European Union. The proposed alignment threatens to undermine all of this. Not only will it threaten the jobs involved, but it will also have a potentially disastrous impact on communities, with many being forced to curtail services or close them down.

The Fianna Fáil motion before the House does not refer directly to the issue of competitive tendering. It is a source of great concern that private companies will be able to bid for contracts to perform community work. There is no benefit in setting community groups against each other to compete for the same resources. Moreover, no private company should benefit from people's disadvantage. We need look no further than Mother England to see what happens to the community sector when this approach is attempted, with services formerly provided by voluntary and community groups farmed out to the private sector. That strategy has been a disaster across the water, where the authorities are now trying to pull it back.

It is difficult to envisage how the new structure will operate. I checked in recent days to see how it was panning out in County Laois and it is not a pretty picture. All of the changes are happening on 1 July, but there is very little of the infrastructure in place. Private companies, of course, will only be interested in making bids for schemes that are guaranteed to make money, leaving other schemes to bite the dust. In the five years of the Leader programme, the Laois Partnership Company has assisted 434 projects. In 2013 it assisted 150 people directly in returning to employment and assisted 119 small businesses. Some 108 children from disadvantaged areas are attending preschool and after-school projects. In addition, the company manages a local employment scheme and provides a vast range of training courses, many of which provide candidates with FETAC qualifications. The administration of all of these schemes is largely funded through the social inclusion programme. Without this funding, the Laois Partnership Company would be unable to administer dozens of projects. It is that funding which keeps the show on the road. Community employment schemes, preschool and after-school projects and everything else cannot be delivered out of thin air.

Local development companies have a strong voluntary ethos and their board members are volunteers. Unfortunately, as I said, the Fianna Fáil motion does not address the possibility of privatisation. Fine Gael is determined to go down the Thatcherite road which proved a miserable failure in Britain. What do members of the Labour Party, none of whom is here, have to say about this? Are they happy to follow their colleagues in government down that road? SIPTU is seeking to deal with the industrial relations issues and it is vital that the Department engage with it, through the Labour Relations Commission, to seek to address the likely consequences for workers employed by the local development companies.

I brought forward a number of amendments to the Local Government Reform Bill 2014, not to be mischievous but to highlight the danger of leaving so much power in the hands of county managers. If a local authority is fortunate enough to have a good county manager, everything will be fine. However, the legislation states in respect of the membership of the local community development committees, "The chief officer of the Committee shall, in consultation with the Corporate Policy Group, seek and select nominees to the Committee ... and shall submit a list of recommended nominees to the members of the local authority for their consideration". The punch line is in the provision which states, "The nominees shall be appointed to the Committee, without omission or addition, by resolution of the local authority". Do people understand this is effectively putting everything in the hands of the county manager? The Government's reform programme is supposed to be about taking power from county managers and putting it back in the hands of councillors. This provision stands that principle on its head and will seriously restrict local authorities. The Government has tied the hands of the 949 councillors elected last week.

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