Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I have listened to the comments of Senators Bannon and Tuffy. I presume the amendment has been tabled as a means of raising the issue, as it will not deliver anything if it is accepted. It is a wish list that has not benefited from any substantial thought. I will give the Senator the benefit of the doubt by saying that he may have put down the amendment to raise the subject of substantial local government reform, which I favour.

During this debate, I have been as guilty as anyone else of not mentioning the many positive developments in terms of local government under successive Governments, particularly in the last decade. Many of these developments have resulted from the work of Department of the Environment and Local Government officials and have been aided by changes in local government structures. Many important schemes, such as the Leader programme, county and city enterprise boards and area partnerships, have been established under different Departments and contain local members. I mentioned earlier that I sit on a Cabinet sub-committee which examines these disparate organisations and is trying to bring them all under the county development board structure which, ultimately, will be under the local authority structure. I have said many times that I have presented this Bill as a specific and substantive reform which will help me to do what I want in many other areas. I never pretended or suggested that this Bill would be the vehicle for the other reforms, as the time for them has not yet come. Senators are aware that a substantive review is under way.