Denis Landy (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome the debate which represents the start to a wider debate. I agree with much of what Senator Zappone said. I approach these matters from the point of view of the citizen and not from the point of view of a sector or group. Having been involved in local government for 25 years and having also worked in the voluntary sector in a family resource centre for a number for a number of years, I can see things from both sides of the fence. It should not be about them versus us but about both groups working in partnership. At the end of this, democratic accountability should be the most important issue. We need to realign and change the present system while maintaining democratic accountability.

The community and voluntary sector covers a wide range. Others have already mentioned that this is the year of volunteering. Local development includes development companies, partnerships and enterprise boards. Community development includes RAPID programmes, community development projects and family resource centres. All these groups work together but sometimes there is a misconception that these are all voluntary organisations. However, as the Minister correctly said, they represent an economic driver and provide almost €6 billion into the economy on an annual basis with wages of almost €4 billion. While this may sometimes be lost it was illuminated during the general election campaign when the figures came out.

The work of local and community development groups in tackling poverty and making people more ready to take up employment and to provide foundations for employment opportunities is extremely important. The realignment of local government and local development companies is the core. The Minister used the word "realignment" and others used the word "partnership" - one can use any word one likes. In recent years local development companies in whatever guise have overtaken local government. The role of local government has been greatly reduced. The Minister spoke about broadening the remit of local government into the areas of social inclusion and quality of life issues. I have consistently said that local government should be involved in education, not just in VECs but across the entire sphere of education. It should be involved to a greater extent in policing and not just sitting on joint policing committees but also having a real involvement in policing as well as in health and economic activity in the local area.

I seek information on the terms of reference of the steering group the Minister established. It is essential that the players in community and local government be represented in that group. If the people who are at the coalface are not participating, the outcome will be very poor. There has been mention of the local authority system being involved in the realignment. I hope the Minister is referring to town councils and county councils. The town council is the core of any small town and is the centre of all activity within that town from a democratic perspective. A number of years ago when I was mayor of my local town two development groups from the area attended a meeting on a local issue. Both groups were in a position to offer up to €100,000 to help with the problem the community had, but I, as mayor of the town, did not have the facility to offer €1. We have been overtaken in terms of the money being disbursed in our community, which needs to be brought back into the centre. I want democratic accountability and I want the voluntary, community and the local democratic system to work together. Ultimately, the democratic process and democratic accountability must be at the start and finish.

The Minister spoke about expanding the remit of local government. Would he consider establishing a scheme similar to the CE scheme within the local authority system to provide services for elderly people who live in local authority houses for the general maintenance and upkeep of their houses? Owing to the recruitment embargo local authorities do not have the staff to do this. I ask the Minister to consider the issue of the struggling last shop, pub and filling station in small villages. If they close, the village as an entity and as a community will die. The Minister can have a role in that matter if he makes an intervention. I look forward to his responses to the questions posed and I look forward to the debate continuing.