Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, for giving the Minister of State an in-depth account, with plenty of notes. I am proud that I served on Middleton Town Council, the East Cork Municipal District Committee and Cork County Council. Team Sinn Féin in Cork County Council has put much work into this issue. I acknowledge all those councillors who have worked on it for the past year and a half. The Minister of State referred to new polling stations and arrangements. The Department took one out of Ballinacurra in east Cork a long time ago and we would like to have it back. Will he include that in his notes?

As we say in Cork, it is a Cork thing, but we need the Cork brand to grow. We also have to be conscious of those on the outskirts. In east Cork there was a concern in county boundary areas such as Youghal which is on the tip of County Waterford that they would lose out on local funding. As Deputy Ó Laoghaire said, we need to fund local government properly.

The Minister of State said he would bring forward amendments on Committee Stage on directly elected mayors. Compensation was referred to. It is like a single payment about which I am concerned. We have looked at the issue of equalisation and it is a fair and important point. It is like having our own Cork Brexit. We have reached the crunch point and now have to get down to the nitty-gritty. In this case, I hope it will not run to 700 pages. I hope we can get through it faster than they are across the water. It is important that we go through the legislation with a fine toothcomb. Committee Stage will be interesting. We need Cork as a brand to grow in order that it will complement the rest of the country.

I congratulate all those who have been involved in this exercise. It is only the start of the Minister of State’s job. As has been said, one will never see anybody hunting with a Labrador or a St. Bernard but keep an eye on the little terrier. We will be watching the Minister of State. I look forward to the deliberations on Committee Stage.

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