Results 1-17 of 17 for long segment:8911151

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

Mark Daly: ...witnesses in turn, in alphabetical order of their county or constituency area. Before I begin, I must attend to a procedural matter that is read out at the start of all meetings. I remind witnesses of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...final thing that I want to share about what we are doing well in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is the culture of our workplace. When I first joined, almost all of the most senior roles on the executive were held by women. Not long after the council term commenced, we became the first local authority in the country to achieve full gender balance in the chamber. Those balances have shifted...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

Victor Boyhan: .... I am a former county councillor for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. I get the sense from councillors across all four Dublin local authorities that they are working exceptionally well. It has taken a long time to bed them down. Mr. Henchy touched on the reasons this new structure came about and the unwieldy old Dublin County Council, as it was. Mr. Edge touched on the Government...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...for people at home with family life, but there is also climate. If we are going to walk the talk on climate action, why should I have to come in to City Hall three or four times a week for an hour-long meeting we can do online? That is what hybrid facilitates. We have joint policing committees, area committees and strategic policy committees. You could be driving into the centre of the...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...to pick up on a few themes that have emerged. I will first look at diversity and the question of the rise of the far right. If I had known that Daithí de Róiste was going to bring his charter along and launch it today, I would have launched my own. Let me give it a little plug now anyway. It has a much more limited compass but is on a very important issue, specifically the...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...elections in the next 12 months. I am particularly gratified to follow Councillor Dermot Lacey. We served together on the UCD governing authority, another type of body that councillors are no longer members of. That has also happened in very recent times. I also echo what he said about area committee chairpersons. In my five years as a councillor, the hardest job I had was as...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...have ink, the committee will be voting on a planning Bill that will leach and strip away the power of local democracy and local government. There is a challenge for the committee members and their colleagues long before their recommendations are written. That is a question for the committee. I support the recommendations on funding. It is not just with area chairs. There is legal...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...was to consider the structures of local government within Dublin. It was a fascinating process and one I fully enjoyed. A colleague here today was on it, as were various other councillors. A lot of long weekends, Saturdays and Sundays were given up by councillors and members of the public. There were a large number of presentations from members of academia, county managers and former...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

Mark Wall: ...parties. It is something we will look at during our Seanad term and in the report we will put out. I also thank my colleague, Councillor Tuffy, who has worked tirelessly for our party over a long period as a TD and Senator, as was said. She brings great experience to our party in that regard. She mentioned Councillor Gilliland. I acknowledge all those councillors who are no longer...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: .... With my Independent colleagues, I have fought constantly in here to make sure councillors are properly remunerated and properly paid for the job they do. We have much work to do but we have come a long way since I came in here. We were at €17,500 when I joined the Seanad in 2020. We have secured more pay. There is a long way to go, but I will keep on that fight. I value each...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...and organise speaking time, so I will rigorously try to speak for less than two minutes. This meeting has been symbolic of the issue. Everyone here, with some notable exceptions, has spoken for longer than allocated and our gracious chairperson has given us leniency that has allowed the meeting to overrun. That is what has happened at every council meeting I have attended in the past...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...community. If we brought in full-time councillors, it would change the nature of local government and community representation and it would be a very bad move. It would be very costly and, in the long term, probably unpopular and unsustainable. I therefore very much do not agree that there should be full-time councillors.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

Mark Daly: ...is represented by Councillor Pádraig McEvoy and Mr. Kevin Lynch, senior planner and assistant director. They are all most welcome to Seanad Éireann today. I wish to draw their attention to the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

.... However, the sector is also dealing with the fallout of the financial crisis. The loss of the 10,000 jobs I spoke about, which occurred at the height of the financial crisis, has resulted in deep and long-term problems of grade drift and blurring of the demarcation of duties and responsibilities. This continues to cause deep and significant impact on recruitment and retention of...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...over the past decades. Small minds and a national political psyche that sees local democratic government as an opponent to be continually kept down, lest it become a threat to those in the higher echelons, should long ago have been confined to the dustbin. Without a thriving, democratic local government system, national government will continue to strive to retain affinity with the...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

...established to empower citizens beyond merely hearing to provide a status for citizens to partake in developing policies. It is our hope PPNs can form a 21st century form of democracy to work alongside the representative and executive elements of councils to engender a higher form of participation in democratic vibrancy. Without climbing Arnstein's ladder, in practice, this may never come...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Apr 2024)

..., known as strategic policy areas, SPAs, but the growth has been higher than expected in some and lower in others but then what happens if the funding is not earmarked in a way to deliver on the long-term objectives? Some areas of the country such as Fingal, Limerick, Wicklow, Stillorgan, north Kildare are not keeping pace with school delivery. There are three regional offices doing...