Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I have always been an advocate of giving additional powers to local government and its members but with power comes responsibility and those members must take on board the responsibilities devolved to them. This often involves taking hard decisions. I look forward to the remaining Stages of the Bill. I thank the Minister and I was particularly pleased that in his opening statement he honoured the commitment to create additional town councils. That is extremely important; more important than some people realise. Town councils, even the non-rating town councils as they are known, constitute a very important link. They perform a very important service for the community. They have an elected voice and often use it to articulate problems in their administrative area which are then taken up by the county council or by the Government. All round, this has been a good day for local government and I look forward to Report Stage tomorrow afternoon.