Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and have listened with interest to the contributions of my colleagues and in particular to those of the previous speaker, Senator Cullinane. As the Minister of State is aware, this is an interesting and expansive topic that certainly requires more then a limited five-minute slot in which to make a decent contribution. While this is a matter for Members themselves rather than for the Minister of State, they should attempt to hold a thorough debate on local government and its reform in the near future. During this week in two years time, the public will vote on local election day. Thousands of people nationwide will offer themselves as candidates to become councillors in their parishes, counties, towns, cities or whatever and between 50% and 60% of the Irish electorate will cast a ballot on that day. While it is important to get the structures right, with a short window of two years remaining I am worried there is as yet no clear picture as to what will be the structures and what will be the size or scale of the council areas. Consequently, it is important that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and her colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, will make progress on these matters in the near future. I note the constitutional provision for local elections every five years that necessitates the holding of such an election in 2014. However, as a person who is disinterested from an electoral perspective but is highly interested in local government, I am a little worried that at present, sufficient time is lacking to put in place proper structures.

As the Minister of State and the Minister work towards their target, it will be important to try to see the bigger picture of local government because at its best, it can be a huge driving force of economic activity and regeneration across the country. It is not simply a question of bigger or smaller councils or of less or more local government but is a question of better local government, which is the title of a document published some years ago. Over the past 30 years, virtually each Administration has attempted to put in place better local government and new structures and new plans. However, as they have not worked tremendously well, some detailed thinking is required over the next few weeks. I was advised yesterday that the Minister has now asked each local authority to liaise with each individual councillor, who will be asked his or her views on the question of local government reform over the next week or two. While this is important, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Hogan, must now lead the charge. One must be brave and radical in respect of local government reform. One must focus on strong, better local government and avoid getting hung up on questions of whether there should be fewer or more councils. The Bill's proposals are quite modest and it certainly makes sense.

I note with a degree of sympathy the points made by Senator Cullinane on the level of representation for Waterford and Limerick cities, which is highly important. However, one must move as quickly as possible to a phase in which the structures, electoral areas, powers and functions are known. There is some scope for imagination and flexibility in this regard and unlike Dáil constituencies, about which there are constitutional limits regarding maximum and minimum populations that require change of such constituencies after each census, one can have somewhat more certainty in respect of local government. A plan must be put in place that will not simply last but will work well for the next 25 or 30 years. This constitutes a major challenge for the Minister of State, her ministerial colleagues and the Department because what they set in stone now will not be changed in five or ten years' time but will last for perhaps quarter of a century and consequently, one must get it right. However, Members are talking in something of a vacuum at present. Moreover, while they debate particular components of this Bill, I note that in recent months and years, significant local authority powers have been taken away in respect of roads, housing, the environment and taxation. There is even talk of removing some of the decisions with regard to zoning and planning. Consequently, it is no wonder that some councils are asking what is their role at all, when all those serious roles from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s have been reduced. One must aspire to local government being more than a form of training school for national politics or a retirement home for former Deputies and Senators. Local government must be a dynamic place of politics in which politicians at local level interact with their local community, local business and local development and make a real difference. If one reflects on the local government structures that obtained in the Ireland of the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, they appear to be much more dynamic. For instance, there was a much more significant role for local government in education and in the delivery of health services and we have gone considerably backwards in this respect.

I had better mention the Bill before concluding, as it is what Members are meant to be debating. I welcome the Bill but look forward to early progress, as clear signals are needed before the summer recess as to what are the Government's intentions in respect of local government. I have been expecting such a development since January but the summer is almost upon us. While I acknowledge consultation is important and I welcome how the aforementioned broad consultation appears to be under way, action is now needed. It is unfair to ask people to contest elections in two years time unless it is known fairly soon what are the structures and electoral areas and what are the powers, roles and responsibilities.

There are very many good people who are not involved in politics at present who might be willing to get involved. There are many hundreds of very effective councillors who wish to remain involved. We need to clear up the picture as soon as possible and must aspire to have local government, not as a mini-Dáil or mini-Seanad, but as a place of serious importance where major decisions are made and there is a fulcrum of local economic development and regeneration.

I have high aspirations for local government and I hope they are matched by national government. What the Minister of State and her colleagues put in place will last for a quarter of a century. It will be their local government legacy and I hope it will be worthy of the name reform. I have seen too much reform with a small "r" during the past 30 years that was reform in name only. We need to see real progress on this occasion.