Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the establishment by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, of the Carlow boundary committee, the terms of reference of which is to review the county boundary between Laois and Carlow. The title of the committee, namely, the Carlow boundary committee, gives the game away.

I am calling on the Minister, Deputy Kelly, to abandon this process now and not cause unnecessary divisions on a matter long since closed. There is no need for this to be done. I am strongly critical of the Minister opening up this debate and allowing for unnecessary divisions at local level between people who live close to the boundary between Laois and Carlow. Laois and Carlow counties work excellently as good local neighbours. Good local neighbours should not be encroaching on each other's areas. There is no reason for this to be done.

I have previously instanced another example of this in my own constituency. The River Barrow runs through Laois and Carlow and is the county boundary for much of the area, although not the entire area. Further up, the River Barrow runs through the town of Portarlington, part of which is in County Laois and the other part of which is in County Offaly. There is never a problem in dealing with Portarlington issues because both councils work excellently as good neighbours for the good of Portarlington. The same approach should be taken in relation to the area known as Graiguecullen, which is part of County Laois but adjacent to Carlow town. The two counties can work excellently as good neighbours, as they have always done.

My question for the Minister is: who, or what, is behind this move to change the county boundary for no good reason? We will do all in our power to stop this happening. I do not want to hear about opportunities for people to make representations to the boundary committee as this process should not go ahead. It should be closed down. Nobody in County Laois has asked for this to be done. We want to know why the Minister will not leave well enough alone.

As I have already stated, the terms of reference mention the Carlow boundary committee. They also state that if there are to be changes to the county boundaries the impact of this on the municipal district of Carlow must be taken into account. However, there is no mention in the terms of reference of the impact of any proposed change to the county boundaries on the municipal district of County Laois. If part of Laois is moved into County Carlow, this will impact on the Graigueullen-Portarlington municipal district in County Laois. There is no mention in the terms of reference of the part of Laois that will be affected. I will challenge the Minister in regard to biased terms of reference that are not objective in that they reference only changes to the municipal district in Carlow. It is not possible to change the Portarlington-Graiguecullen municipal district boundary between Laois and Carlow without impacting on the Portarlington or Graiguecullen-Portarlington municipal district.

The Minister of State, Deputy English, is well aware of what is involved in this regard given the moves to change the county boundary between Drogheda and Meath. The same is happening in Waterford in terms of Waterford wanting to take over part of south Kilkenny. Counties can work well enough together but why is the Minister setting neighbours against each other for no good reason? I want to know who is behind this proposal? For as long as I have been a Deputy, this has been a live issue. It comes up every five years and eventually goes away. I intend to get to the bottom of what group of officials resurrects this issue every five years after it has been put to bed. This is not necessary. Counties Carlow and Laois are good neighbours and they want to remain so. Good neighbours should not be encroaching on each other's area. The Minister should stop this process now.

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