Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I also welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. While this is a short, technical Bill, it affords us the opportunity to comment on other aspects of local government. I welcome Senator Boyle's comments on the proposed Green Paper and White Paper on local government reform because that is the core issue. A significant shake up in the funding and organisation of local government is needed.

I wish the Limerick Southside and Northside Regeneration Agencies well and I am sure they will do a great job. Will the agencies be in place for a limited time? Similar agencies, which were established under similar legislation previously, are still in place. Will the Limerick agencies be retained? These projects have come about because of the failure to fund and pay attention to local government. As a last resort, projects have been set up in Limerick because of the lack of power and funding available to the local authority in the city. The people have been failed because funding was not in place. The Government was left with no choice but to set up an agency to put in place a plan for those areas and back it with funding. Now there will be no problem at all with funding.

I look forward to the Green Paper on local government because it is needed. Many local authorities are experiencing a financial crisis. Senator Kelly referred to the dependence of such authorities on development charges. The reason for this is they have few means of generating revenue. I hope the Green Paper will address the issue of both the Minister for Transport and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government dealing with local government issues. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government should be in charge of local authorities and the transport issues for which they are responsible. Local authorities have few sources of funding and they have depended heavily on development charges in recent years. With the downturn in the economy, the only way they can raise funds is through water and sewage charges. For example, my local authority, Mayo County Council, charges businesses supplied with water and sewerage services more than €10 per 1,000 gallons of water and sewage. That equates to €500 per house based on the 50,000 gallon allowance to households. Is the Government giving €500 per house to local authorities annually to run the services given that it is supposed to fully recoup the charges incurred on water and sewerage services?

The Minister of State might supply us with information on how much the Government is giving local authorities because I am aware that not all of them charge for sewerage services even though the Government insists they have to do so under the polluter pays principle. This is a heavy burden on service industries, such as small restaurants and pubs, and major businesses like Baxter Healthcare in Castlebar. The latter's sewerage and water bill has increased by approximately €2 million, which is a huge amount for an employer to absorb.

The funding of local government is an important issue. When the Minister was in Athlone two weeks ago, he stated that local authorities would have to pay pound for pound for the moneys spent by his Department on county road improvements. Where will local authorities get this money given that their only means of raising funds is by means of rates and water and sewerage charges? In my county, the local authority contribution for water and sewerage services can be 20% or 30% of projects that cost as much as €50 million. How are local authorities to finance themselves in the future given their dependence on development charges which are dwindling due to the downturn in the economy?

I asked questions about the duration of the north and south Limerick regeneration agencies and the age factor for those over the age of 65. People who have been in other employment may want to continue working in agencies but that is not provided for in local government or Civil Service legislation.

I welcome the Bill and wish the Minister of State well.