Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. In our own mini-Croke Park agreement, the last time the Minister of State was in the Seanad we saved a large amount of money by not building a high wall in Clontarf, making the people there much happier. I make it my object to invent new reductions in public expenditure every time the Minister of State comes to the Seanad, to help him balance the books.

Earlier, we heard good news from Senator Coghlan that Committee Stage of the Bill would not take place until after negotiations with people who are involved. That is very welcome. It is a lucky omen that the Acting Leader was from Killarney, when we were discussing the submission by the Irish Hotels Federation. At ¤1,500 a room, rates have a major potential impact on the Killarney area and on Irish tourism. It is important that we get this right.

The concern they had was that the commissioner has an unfettered right to set the valuation in the manner he considers appropriate. No objective criteria are prescribed in legislation as to how the commission could arrive at such a valuation. We could end up under this Bill with the same situation as in the past when there was no meaningful appeal procedure in the rating of agricultural land. The documents the hoteliers prepared were not the usual advocacy documents Deputies and Senators receive. They were making a serious point and had important legal advice in that regard. It is welcome news that this will be discussed before Committee Stage.

Senator Byrne teed me up when he said I had reports that comment on the efficiency of local government. I was rivalling Senator Coghlan to find out where the reports were. However, I did find it. The McLoughlin report says that local government in Ireland is over-manned - I will give the list because this is the Clontarf wall equivalent of public expenditure reductions for today's presentation - to the tune of ten county managers, 50 directors of services, 170 corporate JAAs, 50 corporate others, 225 middle and senior replacements, 62 in human resources and payroll, 15% of Dublin and Cork senior managers, 180 professional senior, middle and replacement people, 250 from the roads departments and 171 from planning. That McLoughlin agenda should feature this afternoon when the Taoiseach has the meeting on the Croke Park agreement. In fact, when Mr. McLoughlin gave a presentation to the Kenmare conference two years ago he said that this is teed up for the Croke Park agreement.

The committee that prepared the report included Mr. McLoughlin and the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, so these are the agreed reductions that are needed in Irish local government. I presume some of it relates to the fact that we have transferred many functions to regional and national bodies. It is time to extract the productivity gains at management level that are needed in local government. We are looking at the price of local government. If there is a Government report, as Senator Byrne mentioned, showing that large scale efficiencies are needed and available, and there is an agreement to facilitate those, let us do it and, perhaps, not have the rates charged for a hotel room going above the current ¤1,500 figure.

We must also examine rateable valuations for empty properties. Earlier speakers have referred to that. If there is no economic activity, and there is a report today outlining concerns about the town centre in Sligo having so many boarded up shops and premises, that issue must be considered. Upward-only rent reviews must also be examined. Then there are the activities of the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, ghost estates and all the forbearance measures. What we must find out is the real taxable capacity of these premises. We must also find a good value way to organise and produce local government services, and ensure that anything we do here does not damage the productive sector of the economy. Members spoke earlier about The Gathering and so forth. When people arrive here next year we will want to have a hotel sector that is still solvent and a local government sector with improved efficiencies.