I wish to comment on our system of local government. Some time ago I was a member of a deputation to the European Union. One of the then Commissioners told us we had the most centralised system of local government in the Union. It is time colleagues on all sides of this House had the courage to draw a dividing line between local and national government. I accept that the delivery of services by a Member of the Oireachtas is pertinent to local authority matters. That is a fact of life. The Minister will have already heard in the course of this debate that there will have to be a definitive enshrinement, whether in legislation or regulations, of the rights of access by Members of the Oireachtas to local authorities. They must have rights in relation to documentation and all that goes with it. That is most important. It must also apply to health boards and vocational education committees. Members of the Oireachtas have an established national role which we must discharge. If the people who sent us here see this as our extended role, who are we to deny it?