Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Government's decision to establish two citizens' assemblies, one on biodiversity and one on a particular priority for me, local government in Dublin. I served for ten years as a member of Dublin City Council and had the great honour of chairing that body. On many occasions during my time in this House I have missed the fantastic opportunity that being a local councillor gives a person to impact his or her community in a real and tangible way. That said, our system of local government is broken. It is a system we inherited from Victorian England. Despite that jurisdiction reforming local government, like many other countries across Europe, Ireland remains stuck with that Victorian model, which is further limited by increasing centralisation. This is demonstrated by the frustration and powerlessness of councillors and citizens alike.

Dublin needs a new model of local government and it must draw on the expertise of its current practitioners, the elected members, and those it serves, the people of the county. Yes, Dublin needs a new model and, yes, the people of the county must have an input, but councillors, who know the current system inside out, must have an input into the reform process. This is not the first rodeo for local government reform in Dublin. I served as a member of the funnily named colloquium on local government established by the then Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, and I watched as different councils brought that process to a halt. Some say it was a process that was designed to fail but, either way, it delivered nothing. This assembly cannot fall into that category. The new citizens' assembly must deliver local government reform that empowers councillors and better serves the people of the county. The debate on a directly elected mayor has not been well teased out. The idea that it is a panacea for poor, short-term decision making is over-simplistic. I welcome the citizens' assembly because I believe, as we saw with other issues, it will help to build a consensus.

It will ensure an informed and detailed debate and focus minds on what the real challenges are in local government.

The time I have to address both topics to be dealt with by the assemblies is limited. However, I must take time to address one issue, which is that a citizens' assembly will not deal with legal reform of illegal drugs this year. I am bitterly disappointed it will not form part of this year's work programme. It is a complex legal area. It requires expert-led civic debate. It will require brave decisions by politicians. It is an ideal candidate for a citizens' assembly. Without prejudice to my comments on the Dublin issue, it would be my number one priority for a subject matter to be dealt with by a citizens' assembly. I regret every day that is added to the process of reform arising from the decision not to deal with it in 2022.

Communities such as Ballymun and Finglas live every day with the impact of the illegal drugs industry and with those people with addiction who are exploited by it. This industry has so much money and firepower that no level of decision-making or enforcement could be immune to the bribery and intimidation it can inflict. Any delay in dealing with the issue will cause further suffering. It will delay treatment and intervention. It will lead to further violence.

I welcome the Government's commitment on the issue. I welcome that people from the top down, including An Taoiseach, have dealt with it in my constituency. I welcome the intervention of the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to tackle disadvantage. I welcome the intervention of the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to provide additional money. If the citizens' assembly is not to come until later this year, what work must we do now as a Government to shatter the grip the illegal drugs industry has on my community? This work remains. It is in our power to do something now in advance of a citizens' assembly setting.

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