Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak this evening. The previous Government abolished the town council tier of local government. The abolition of the tier which focused on urban centres was clearly a mistake and must be rectified by the restoration of our town councils.

I strongly argue for the reintroduction of an urban focus. There is disconnect between the municipal districts and urban towns. People in the towns of west Cork no longer have ready access to the same number of councillors or what used to be the town hall, and we must restore that. In my constituency, when the town councils were abolished, Clonakilty set up a mayoral council. Volunteers such as Anthony McDermott, John Loughnan, Gretta O'Donovan, Colette Twomey and Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin have given tirelessly and continuously to their community. There is an annual mayoral contest and the mayor attends between 150 or 160 functions. I commend them for giving their time to the people.

Some of the decisions around rural Ireland of the previous Government and the current one beggar belief. Take the community voluntary forum and how it struck them off. The way the last Government was going, we were lucky it could not get its hands on local community councils or it would have struck them out too. It wanted to make sure it did not give a voice to anyone but has anything changed? The recent boundary changes in Cork, which include the transfer of Cork County Council areas with large populations from the county council into Cork corporation, will have a detrimental effect on the county. The loss of revenue from areas such as Glanmire, Blarney and Ballincollig will result in a huge drain in revenue from the county in the long term. Once again, it is dictation from the top. I represent rural areas in west Cork, some of which are the most disadvantaged in the county, including the peninsulas and islands which cannot afford any loss of revenue.

Has anything changed? When we consider the new county council boundary changes, there was no consultation with the people of Courtmacsherry, Barryroe, Timoleague and Darrara. They do not want to be pushed into the Bandon electoral area but the Government has pushed them into it. It is dictation from the top again.

Nothing has changed. The Government got rid of town councils. It is seeking to erode anything to do with community as much as it can. All of this is being led by a political party that has another agenda. While I agree with the restoration of town councils, I do not trust this Government to do it. In my view, it will be doctored in some way to suit its own needs. The Government needs to start taking the people of rural Ireland seriously. It should give the people of rural Ireland back their voice. The reintroduction of town councils would be a step in that direction.

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