Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The Government amendment seems to address my party's concerns as set out in amendments Nos. 38, 39 and 53. The purpose of Fine Gael's amendments is to delete the definition of "local authority" in the Bill to ensure the term has the meaning it has in the Local Government Act 2001. Amending the Bill will ensure that town councillors can contribute to policing committees whereas the Bill, as initially drafted, had the effect of excluding them. Town councillors should be allowed to make an important contribution to the process. Representatives from the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, quite a number of whom I have met in the past couple of weeks, feel very strongly about the exclusion of town councillors. If a policing committee were to meet in a town as large as Tramore, it is possible that under the existing provisions not one member of Tramore Town Council would be present. That is not what the Minister wished to provide in drafting the legislation. I ask that the exclusion of town councillors be rescinded to allow them to be part of the committees.