Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this debate and I applaud Deputy Cassells for bringing forward the Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017. It is a start. It is not earth shattering but it is a very important start. The Bill proposes to establish a town council commission. It will not lead to a return of town councils any time soon. In fact, it is more likely to delay the restoration of town councils. We need to know what functions or powers they might have and the commission would be established to do that. We already know, however, what powers town councils and borough councils should have. The legislation that abolished them can be reversed. I know it would not be simple as there are about 80 or 90 different inputs into the Local Government Reform Act but the significant changes that were made in Act and the Putting People First policy have been nothing short of a disaster. I wish to be clear about this and we should face up to that reality. It is not just that a Bill or an Act is passed. I do not know who informed him but I am surprised the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, thought those reforms were successful.

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