Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

I want to raise with the Taoiseach again the re-establishment of borough and town councils. As he knows, local government is the heartbeat of democracy. The heart was torn out of democracy with the abolition of town and borough councils in 2014 by the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition. These councils were replaced by committees with no powers, functions or funding. Effectively, the are talking shops. This has done serious damage to towns right across the country. It is widely accepted and acknowledged, even by the former leader of the Labour Party, Brendan Howlin, that this was a very bad decision. Clonmel, one of the five original boroughs in the country, with a mayor and a form of local democracy dating back to the 1400s, is a town very badly affected by that decision.

I acknowledge the programme for Government commitment to establish a local democracy task force. However, there are widespread concerns about the terms of reference of the task force. There is no mention of the re-establishment of borough or town councils. The composition of the task force is heavily loaded in favour of existing individuals and bodies connected to local government and local government management. There are no representatives, for instance, of community, tenants' or residents' organisations. There are also no trade union or chamber of commerce representatives. The task force has limited its consultation process to requests for submissions from designated organisations. There is effectively no public consultation process.

If there is to be a re-establishment of town and borough councils and real local government reform, this task force must be open, transparent and accountable and must involve real public consultation. If this does not happen, the Government's statement that local government is the heartbeat of democracy will mean nothing. Will the Taoiseach make sure that real local government and democracy are put in place by means of the re-establishment of borough and town councils and the setting up of new councils for towns that have grown and expanded in recent years?

See this speech in context