Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) (Confirmation of Orders) Bill 2008. It is a small but important Bill in light of the advice of the Attorney General on its necessity. I am pleased that the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, is in the Chamber because he has a long and distinguished background in local authorities, having started his career in Clare County Council. In the many years I have known him, I have found him a strong champion of local authorities and their elected members.

This Bill is not about reform per se but it none the less affords me an opportunity to speak about the Green Paper on local government reform. I warmly welcome the Green Paper because it will provide us with an audit of local governments' current performance in respect of service delivery.

I have been involved in local government for 25 years and served on Westmeath County Council and Mullingar Town Commission. I am pleased a proposal has been agreed by the Government to establish new town councils where towns have experienced a growth in population that merits the establishment of such bodies. The upgrading of the former town commissions to real town councils is also welcome. In recent years, the term "town commission" has been replaced by "town councils" but nothing has changed beyond the name. As a former member and chairman of a town commission representing a large number of people, I found it the most frustrating of experiences because the commission just about had the power to pass a vote of sympathy.

Town commissions previously had powers as housing and lighting authorities and as regulators of fairs and markets but they gave these away. A former town commission member who has since gone to his eternal reward once told me that Mullingar Town Commission did a great job by passing responsibility for lighting to the county council. I told the member that Westmeath County Council has 23 members but Mullingar Town Commission has only nine members, so he would get one 23rd if he was lucky as against one ninth formerly. That was not a good balance. The blame for this loss of power cannot be laid solely at the doorsteps of Ministers because locally elected members have given up many of their powers, which I bemoan.

I ask the Minister of State to use his vast experience of local government to give a real basis to the former town commissions. Rapidly growing towns such as Shannon in the Minister of State's constituency, Mullingar in my county, Leixlip, Greystones and Newbridge have no powers. Their influence begins and ends with an elected voice.

I commend the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, who as Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform had town councils included in policing committees. It does not require rocket science to realise that the bulk of crime is committed in towns and cities.

When we speak about performance audits we have to consider how local authorities have performed. Regardless of whether it operates at national or local level, if an authority does not have powers to raise and spend money it has nothing. It is an exercise in self-delusion.

I look forward to the upgrading with great enthusiasm. There are a number of options for funding. I remember in 1988-89 when I was chairman of Westmeath County Council we brought in paid parking. I was threatened, received anonymous telephone calls and people said they would stand against me but I, along with a number of my colleagues, stuck to my guns. As a result of that decision, many important infrastructural works were provided in Mullingar, including roundabouts, traffic lights, bridges, car parks, etc. More importantly, there has been an increase in the level of commercial activity and shoppers can get parking so almost everyone is happy.

When we refer to funding we talk about service charges about which there has been much hoo-ha. The Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1978 partly abolished rates. When the Government of 1977 took office, one third of rates had been abolished. We then had the grant in lieu of domestic rates and the grants of those who did not collect service charges were reduced. Government always wins when it comes to funding because if there is a shortfall, there are no marks for guessing who suffers — the local authority.

The Local Government (Financial Provisions)(No. 2) Act 1983 provided the basis for the service charges we now have. There was also much hoo-ha about that. As I said previously, the three main parties took the line of least resistance in terms of the funding base of local authorities, which was the rates system. The High Court case taken by the Wexford farmers resulted in the abolition of agricultural rates. As a nation, we have not been clever in regard to local government funding. If any system of government, local or national, does not have the power to raise finance and spend it, it is nothing but a talking shop.

We also have looked at other ways to raise funding. Paid parking is self-explanatory and anybody who knows anything about it knows it regulates the length of time for which one can park, generates income for the local authorities and complements commercial activity.

Considerable efforts have been made by successive Ministers in regard to littering but we are not winning the war. We must be more proactive and the only way to hit the litter bug is in the pocket where it hurts most. The litter bug will not listen to anyone. One can put up all the signs one likes but the litter bug takes great pleasure in disregarding them.

The Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies)(Confirmation of Orders) Bill is a short but important one and I commend it to the House.