Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

There were plenty of them.

There is a system in place in Australia which we should consider. How we would implement it is another question, but I believe there would be cross-party support for it in the House. It would encourage people to vote and would explain why they should do so. In England, a turnout of 20% is expected in the forthcoming local elections. We might be more democratic if we could emulate Saddam Hussein's turnout of 99.5%.

The Minister was disingenuous in pretending that he is giving us concessions in the Bill in terms of the fact that agendas will be made available to us. He also said that he would bring forward further legislation in respect of making county managers and other council officials reply to us. It is a pity that such provision is not made in the Bill in order that we would know where we stand. It is like agreeing a price for a second-hand car with a dealer and being promised the car in the future. A person would like to know what exactly he is buying and would like to get the car there and then.