Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

From my reading of it, I am certain it would because it states "the establishment of the committee on a county or city council area basis . . . ". It does not state, "a local authority area basis." As it does not mention the town councils and does not state local authority, it would preclude the establishment of a committee based around the town council. There is no doubt about that.

It would also preclude the setting up of a committee based around the local area committee. In my local council, I would prefer a Lucan-Clondalkin joint policing committee. With the Government proposal that would be possible whereas it would not be possible with the Fine Gael one. For example, in my county council it is much more beneficial to have it based around the local area committee, the Lucan-Clondalkin area committee. When we sit through council meetings half of which are taken up with the business of Tallaght, Terenure and Lucan, local councillors wait for their particular area to come up and it is not as beneficial. If the Minister wants to get this working with the local gardaí, he must make these committees as local as possible.

I agree with Senator Mansergh. Some councils may decide it should be done on a county council basis. Others will decide differently. One is in danger of diluting the work we have done in terms of getting town councils included because they will not be able to set up their own joint policing committees under the Fine Gael wording.

I agree with the point well made by Senator Leyden about the inclusion of Members of Seanad Éireann. When he spoke on the abolition of the dual mandate, the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, indicated that we would have dealings with local councils.