David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 5, line 11, to delete " 'services' includes—" and substitute the following:

" 'services' not already being provided by boards may include—".

I will not speak for too long on this amendment because I want to hear the Minister of State's response before coming back to it. In some respects, this amendment is related to the first two amendments which sought a greater level of consultation. We are still on section 5 which deals with bodies that may be established under the 1971 Act. It states that the Minister can only establish a body to provide services which relate to the performance by him of his functions or the performance of a local authority and its functions.

Our problem is that we are trying to provide services which can be taken on by such bodies but which are at the moment, by and large, already being provided by local bodies and are not being transferred. It goes back to the point we were making initially about giving the Minister powers to make these decisions. We do not believe the Government should be undermining local government.

We are concerned here with the provision of procurement services, the supply of goods and related services, the provision of agency services, including the collection of charges and late payment fees, and the provision of shared and centralised services. Some of these services may be transferred from different bodies and the Local Government Management Agency, which is what this Bill is about.

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that services which are being provided by local government are not transferred into some national body without consulting the Oireachtas. Although it does not say so, it is related to the first two amendments.

Before I consider whether or not to press the amendment, I will listen to what the Minister of State has to say.