Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I welcome that not only are we debating this Bill today but also that this is the first Bill to be initiated in the 23rd Seanad. The record of the 21st Seanad and 22nd Seanad in initiating legislation was very good. As members of this Seanad we should be seeking similar access towards progressing legislation.

This is a technical Bill and the contributions to the debate so far have been brief, indicating the depth of the legislation. It does not contain many issues of note but is important in terms of having the issues properly and legally clarified. That said, it also offers Senators an opportunity to talk briefly about the general situation regarding local government. At very least, we are on the threshold of a wide-ranging debate on this issue. The Green Paper on local government reform will be published in a matter of weeks. This will initiate a process confirmed in the programme of Government and it will be followed by a White Paper and relevant legislation. Unlike previous speakers, I am confident that will result in wide ranging reform and will address matters that were comprehensively answered in other chambers, particularly restrictions on spending for local government elections. I look forward to a comprehensive local government Bill at the end of this year or in early 2009, which will confirm these amendments. It is important that reform extends beyond the bodies covered by this legislation and the technical changes as to how they operate and what they are called and introduces 85 years after the foundation of the State a real system of local government.

We have had a system of local administration and while Ireland is a small country, there has been an imbalance between how decisions are made by the Government and local government agencies. This must be corrected to introduce vibrancy into our democratic procedures. This will help the nature of our society and it will have an economic impact. Local government needs to be local. Not only has that imbalance existed throughout the years, there has been a worrying trend in the past 20 years, which has been confirmed by Governments of various compositions and all political parties, of not only properly centralising powers and taking them from local authorities but also putting them into a less accountable tier under which a plethora of agencies has been established, which lack accountability and whose make up is questionable in the context of membership and nominations. When the local government process begins in earnest with the publication of the Green Paper, I would like that issue addressed.

When I was elected to Cork Corporation in 1991, many of these agencies were being set up and their establishment was assisted through EU funding. I recall having conversations with other councillors who were afraid of people involving themselves in these community structures on the basis of a lack of accountability and the establishment of a parallel political system. Those elected to local authorities are subject to an imbalance in decision-making between national and local government and between executive and reserve functions. Since the early 1990s, councillors have had very few decision-making powers, particularly in allocating resources within their communities. The agencies covered by this legislation are in place to advise but they exist in the shadows. These bodies are seldom mentioned in the House nor are they the subject of further examination, accountability or discussion. Perhaps, as part of the reform process, annual reports should be laid before the House, even though they form a weighty pile in our offices. However, the job of knowing what these agencies do, asking questions of them and examining their effectiveness is not being done by either House or through the committee system. Very often, the only opportunity we have to refer to these bodies is through legislation such as this.

While this is a short Bill, it is important for us to take the opportunity to highlight that accountability is a central role of ours, as a Parliament, and we are collectively failing in this regard. If, in dealing with the legislation, we can address that issue and devise proposals to overcome that failure, we will have done part of our job as parliamentarians. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and I welcome the use of the Seanad to initiate the Bill. I look forward to this being the first of many Bills relating to local government reform about which both Houses will be exercised, at least for the next 18 months.