John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will never agree on that. The difference between Cork and Galway is that in Galway city and county we are talking about a population of just over 300,000 people but in Cork city and county, the population is heading for 1 million. This is not about geographic size but about people. I have had so many meetings with representatives from Galway at which Deputy Ó Cuív makes the case for additional councillors in Connemara but councillors represent people, not rocks. The same principle applies with local authorities. They are based on population. The allocation of councillors and the location of local authorities should be based on the population of an area. Some of the local authorities in Dublin have populations that are well in excess of the combined population of Galway city and county.

In response to Deputy Eamon Ryan, he outlined the situation in Monard which is still in the county area. He is correct that approval was granted two years ago but one of the purposes of the metropolitan governance piece which is being prepared now as part of the national planning framework is to ensure that those types of scenarios do not happen again.

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