Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

It needs to be made clear that section 217 and Part 21 of the principal Act continue the existing law which has been in place since 1941. These provisions enable the Minister to remove members from office where they fail to perform certain statutory duties. The Labour Party amendment seeks to revise the law in relation to the timing of a new election. For more than half a century, just four local authorities have been removed. The only one removed in the last 25 years was Naas UDC.

The 2001 Act continues the existing law and sets out the reasons for removal from office. I do not propose to go through them all in great detail. It was obvious in my role as Minister for the Environment and Local Government last year that the threat of removal concentrated the minds of people in regard to making decisions. It would be farcical to abolish a council in January, hold an election in February and have a local election in June.