Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to put a question to the Taoiseach as to whether it is Government policy that county councillors are untrustworthy or inferior in some way as a species. Is it the settled opinion of Ministers and Departments that county councillors are not suitable for consideration for appointment to State bodies and semi-State boards? This has been mentioned previously by me and a number of others. It is an ongoing blight on our system that people who have given sterling service at local level, the best group of men to handle a given problem at any time, are excluded.