Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I know the Minister has not said that. Given that it has been put about that he would make local authority members full time I consider I should address the issue during this debate. Much has been said in the media about the dual mandate and that it has to do with the money. County councillors were not paid for most of the period of local government's existence. There is a cost to people in local government, as anyone who has been a member of a local authority knows. It still costs money. We do not get the representational payment now. There is no financial advantage for me in being a member of a local authority. My motive, and that of many others, is that I like local government and I have always had a passion for it. I would like to combine my membership of the local authority with national representation because I can contribute both nationally and locally with that dual perspective. It is important that the Minister and the Fianna Fáil Party inform the media that it is not for the money that one is involved in local government and it never has been.