John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

Senator Glynn is exactly right.

In response to the question about on-line payments, the computer boards disburse the money at intervals, probably once a month.

The question of which town councils receive how much is a matter for the local authority, or the manager. I hope that as we discuss these issues in more detail in the context of the White Paper we can examine the powers of the members. We seem to agree that the managers have excessive power and the local members do not have those powers. This must be addressed. There is no question that there is an imbalance there. It is recognised on all sides of the House. That is what I intend to do in the White Paper. I hope we can get broad agreement on those issues because reform of local government is urgent. We do not have real local government, we have local administration. The people at the top, the managers, have the power. As democrats none of us can be too happy about that situation.