Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the people of Kildare, I convey their happiness that the county has been unified for the next general election. However, I feel for the people in Laois, Portarlington, Ballybrittas and Killenard who have been disenfranchised from their own county and placed in with south Kildare. While I look forward to working with them in the future, a county boundary should always be preserved.

I commend Deputy Cassells on the Bill which marks a decisive shift towards the empowerment of local communities and giving towns across Ireland a strong voice to fight their corner. The whole point of the Maastricht treaty was to ensure that decisions would be made as close as possible to the citizen on the ground, but that certainly is not what happened with Phil Hogan's decision. We now have the lowest number of councillors relative to population in the EU. The abolition of town councils increased the average of councillors to citizens to by far the highest proportion in the western world, which is appalling. A lot of the time neither national nor local government is popular. Local level can become the catch-all for a lot of problems. While it is easy to criticise, however, we have to work within an improved system to effect real change. Effective and autonomous local government with sustainable funding and better resources must be the catalyst for a better future.

As a town councillor for many years, I saw at first hand the incredible and unpaid efforts of communities and community groups to ensure we all got through the recession and worked to help one another. I was privileged during that time to see so many dedicated people carrying out work, delivering new, exciting and innovative projects, activities and initiatives throughout my town. When I look back, my mind is full of images which tell powerful stories of activities and people coming together to achieve and accomplish. I returned last night with a 90-strong delegation from the 20th anniversary of the twinning of my own town of Newbridge and Bad Lipspringe in Germany. Thousands of people have travelled over the last 20 years which I have no doubt would never have happened without the support of an existing town council at that point in time. It is therefore hugely important to restore town councils. I would not stop there. We need strong community councils and we cannot talk about local government without talking about the need to reform rates. I commend the Bill and look forward to the cross-party support.

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