James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Is the Government prepared to publish the Attorney General's opinion or would the grey areas he has probably found strengthen the case of those who oppose the Bill? By taking democracy out of the hands of the people, the Government is denying them their democratic right to decide their local representatives. This sort of disrespect for our Constitution would not be accepted in any other EU country. Unfortunately the Government does not appreciate or respect what Oireachtas Members have done for local government. It is choosing to override the democratic process. Our Constitution provides that no person may be a member of the Dáil and Seanad at the same time but it says nothing about being a member of both a local authority and the Oireachtas. Therefore, according to the Constitution, there is nothing to prevent anyone from being a member of a local authority and of Parliament.

It was 1918 before women in this country got a vote and then it was only married women of 30 years or over. Women were debarred from membership of county and borough councils until 1911. One might say that is history but in 2003 another debarring order is about to be imposed on us. How can democratically elected Members of the Oireachtas be denied the right to take their places as leaders of their communities and to develop and shape those communities at both local and national levels?

It is unconstitutional to deny the citizens of the State the right to elect whoever they want to serve them on local authorities. Voters must be allowed to have their say. The Government's change of mind in relation to the proposed direct election of mayors is an obvious indication that it is afraid to face the electorate in such elections. Its candidates would certainly suffer the consequences of the broken promises and widespread cutbacks since the general election. Under these proposals experienced people will be forced to leave local government. I assure the Minister that the offer of a financial sweetener, which is tantamount to a dubious pay-off, is no incentive to councillors, Senators and Deputies to give up their unpaid work for their local areas. The windows of opportunity opened after the passing of the Local Government Act 2001, but the Minister is pulling down the shades by introducing the Local Government Bill 2003. The people he is shoving off local councils have invaluable experience and knowledge of the local government system and, most importantly, they are the choice of the people.

What price democracy when that choice is arbitrarily removed from the electorate and it is no longer allowed to decide who represents it? My party has serious concerns about the Bill, which has fallen far short of the comprehensive and major reform we expected. Following the recent proposals in the Environment Protection Bill to remove certain powers from elected councillors and to give those powers to county or city managers, this Bill again hits at the core of local democracy.