Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

Local government reform deserves a much wider debate than we are having in regard to the Bill before the House. There are two Bills from the Department of the Environment and Local Government on the Order Paper of the House; the Protection of the Environment Bill 2003 and the Local Government Bill 2003, which is currently being discussed. One takes away the power of local authority members and gives it to county managers, while the other takes away the dual mandate with the intention of totally reforming local government.