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

The Deputy should not worry about the fox. He is using the ould Meath trick. We know well in Westmeath what he is like. Deputy Munster is feeling the heat from Senator Nash. There is a campaign being led by the local newspaper to ensure Drogheda will have corporation status restored. Ultimately, we should all learn lessons and not be afraid to come in here to apologise. I have great respect for Deputy Ó Caoláin. Former Senator Máiría Cahill is looking for acknowledgment on various issues. Perhaps if they adopted the same position as Deputy Howlin, regarding where we have made a mess in abolishing town councils, it might be useful. Let us be clear that we did make a mess and regret it. One could not say, however, that town councils in which one could get elected by 50 people were worthy of retaining. There should have been reform rather than abolition. Let us be clear and call a spade a spade. I know of some of the town councils in question. Let us all grow up here. Let us not always fly off the handle over nothing. Let us deal with this in a critical, cool-headed way. We made a mistake and are in here apologising for it. I am delighted with the support coming from all quarters. We feel this Bill could probably be improved and put together with the Fianna Fáil Bill, brought forward and put into the committee. It was the colleague of Minister of State Deputy Phelan who led the charge. I was not there at the time. I was not even a member of the Labour Party. I did not have the Whip when this happened but I still assume responsibility, unlike some, because I was a Member of the House. I suppose I could have spoken out with greater clarity against the proposal.

We are now proposing that every town with a population of more than 5,000 and at least 1,000 dwellings, and with a clearly defined urban centre, should have its town council restored. In other words, there is critical mass. There should be nine councillors elected from one electoral area, but if the town is larger, as in where Deputy Lawless represents, there should be 15. This could be changed or reconsidered, of course. Deputy Cassells's idea may well be better. Let us bring the two ideas together. Let us not be afraid of this. Other Deputies, including Deputy Ó Caoláin, have other points of view. The central point is that the town would elect its own councillors to serve the needs of the town. People do feel remote from their public representatives at present. The proposal would remedy this. Councils would have the ability to set their own rates. They could be lower or higher than those set by the county council.

The restoration of the town councils for Mullingar, Athlone and Longford would enable them to be in control of their own development plans, budgets, planning applications and finances. In Mullingar, the town council could promote the local industrial park at Marlinstown, which has 27 ha, so it could be sure to get an industry there. It is centrally located, well appointed, has planning permission and three-phase electricity, yet IDA Ireland has failed to secure an industry for the area. We could do more. Athlone and Mullingar both have well over 20,000 people, heading towards 25,000. Longford has 10,000. All of those areas would qualify. That is important.

The decision to abolish councils in wholesale fashion was stupid, driven by a false narrative that abolition would lead to significant savings. What happened as a result was that the reduction in the number of local public representatives, who are the fulcrum of representative democracy, just heaped work and pressure on a smaller number of public representatives, many of whom were not local to the area to be represented and who had to carry an extra load with no pay. The pay is absolutely useless. Let us call a spade a spade: the big problem we will face in the coming years is trying to get people to actually run for those offices. We bow to the lowest common denominator. Someone in the media makes a point about public representatives and we immediately rush in. We in this House are kings and queens of it. We condemn every public representative and lacerate ourselves in here. I have seen it. The deterioration over 26 years is frightening. When I came in here first, we respected one another. We had our political arguments, no more than the way in which I might now disagree with Deputies Cassells or Ó Caoláin, but ultimately there was respect. If we do not have respect for one another, we should not expect anyone outside to have respect for us. One might think one is gaining the upper hand by some snide or glib remark but one is only playing to the gallery and denigrating one's fellow representatives. We should argue the political toss vehemently and strongly but we are all colleagues, and I am sure we are in politics for the best motives – 99.9% of the people I have served with were always motivated by public service and I was proud to be one of their own. After the next election, I clearly will not be but I will be proud to leave and say I was part of that House and that it was a great honour. We should not run around denigrating one another because it is only fuel for somebody else to continue the denigration.

In the last week I have heard stories from across Ireland on the impact of the loss of the town council and why it should be reintroduced. Mr. Liam van der Spek, our representative in Cavan, is urgently seeking the restoration of his town council. He told me that Cavan town, with its population of more than 10,000, has been noticeably underdeveloped since losing its town council. The main streets and housing estates are suffering. The town has been dropped from the top spots in the league of Irish Business Against Litter. Owing to the lack of representation, Mr. van der Spek doubts the town could now host the Fleadh Cheoil like it did in 2010. I was very proud to be at Cavan's three fleánna, bearing in mind that I am a great Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann man, as most people know. It would be difficult to attract such events now because all towns want them. We are spending €3 million in Mullingar and hope to get the Fleadh Cheoil in 2020 and 2021 because it was founded in Mullingar. We want it in Mullingar for the 70th anniversary. Let that go out to everyone, including Deputy Howlin, who is seeking to have it in Wexford.

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