Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I am disappointed the Minister of State will not accept the amendment. We have serious reservations about this part of the Bill. We believe that in practice it will neutralise the potential of many local authorities because it will make all of them appear bland and the same within a given region. Let us consider any given region. Every local authority in every city or county within that region has their own strengths and weaknesses. This is an effort to have consistency within a region and all local authorities are considered to be the same and will be managed from the top down. We have serious reservations about this in practice.

Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.