David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

There was no misunderstanding. I accept the Minister of State's point that Members are dealing with existing local government powers. However, this section of the Bill outlines the purpose for which bodies may be established under the 1971 Act. The Bill's digest sets out for the first time the nature of the services that may be provided by any body that would be established under the Act. It pertains to the provision of procurement services, the supply of goods and related services and the provision of agency services, including the collection of charges and late payment fees, as well as the provision of shared and centralised services. Consequently, I see no contradiction in including a formula of words because while I acknowledge the possibility of centralisation or regionalisation is there, localisation can mean a number of different things. It could mean shifting power from one local authority to another, such as, for example, from a city council to a town council or whatever. There has been no misinterpretation by Sinn Féin in this regard. Our problem is the entire drift is towards centralisation and towards sucking power to the centre. The entire focus and mindset is on that and not on localisation.