Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also disagree with the proposal. This type of legislation is important for local government and local government reform. I know the Minister of State is not the same person as his former colleague, Mr. Hogan, to whom Deputy Grealish referred. Galway should not be tacked on to this Bill, as previous speakers have said, that is so ravaging and damaging to Cork. I can speak from my experience of what the Government did in Tipperary when it amalgamated north and south Tipperary county councils against the wishes of the people. It destroyed our county and our county town of Clonmel and took away all the services. The Government abolished town and borough councils and did not care.

Democracy is being taken away from the local members. The Government doubled the size of the areas for the county councils and gave them no say whatever. The Government now wants the issue discussed. The county manager, Joe MacGrath, was brought into a workshop from which the press was shut out. Council members might as well be idle. Drawing up local area plans and tabling and discussing amendments to them is a waste of time. Our county development plan has not been reviewed and has been extended again. We badly need development.

We need more accountability and more powers for the elected members, not for the chief executive officers. We do not call them county managers anymore but CEOs and they are all powerful. At a civic reception now, we must bow and defer to the CEO. The elected representatives who face the people should have some say and not be subject to subterfuge and deceit, as they often are. They should not be bullied and intimidated by workshops behind closed doors to which the media are not allowed access.

As regards housing, the Government has failed abysmally. I heard this morning on the radio that Tipperary County Council has now appointed a new official to count and draw up a list of vacant houses. We have been talking about this issue for 12 years. There are houses that have been vacant for 30 years, 20 years and ten years while we have a housing crisis going on and 3,000 people waiting for houses. We have not even built a dozen houses in Tipperary in recent years.

Reform is needed and is not happening. As I said, we cannot have this going on, with power being taken away from the people who are being shut out completely. The Government did this with the LEADER groups and all the other functions that take away power from the people. It has been a smash and grab and the county councils are now just rubber stamps for the county managers and CEOs. That is all they are.

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