Sean Barrett (Independent)

Will the Leader discuss with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, the finances of local government? My fear is that the financial problem will only be tackled on the taxation side, as my colleague stated, and not on the expenditure side. It appears that important issues raised in the McLaughlin report on local government are not being addressed. They should be addressed at the same time, as we must tackle the situation as an expenditure problem as well as a tax raising problem. McLaughlin estimates we are overmanned by ten county managers, 50 directors of services, 220 people in corporate services, 225 people in middle management and 180 people at professional, senior and middle management level. Given that the moratorium has mostly resulted in a reduction in outdoor staff by 13% and management by only 7%, the question of whether we get good value for money from local government poses a serious problem. I hope the Leader will raise the matter with the Minister before we embark on increasing taxation unnecessarily.