Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to discuss the issue of the local electoral area boundary committee which was established by the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to determine the electoral areas. The committee's terms of reference state at paragraph 9:

Subject to a minimum total of 18 and a maximum total of 40 members of every other council -
- there should be one member for every 4,830 population in each council area ...

Therefore, based on the population threshold of 4,830 people per councillor, counties such as Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo would have the minimum number of councillors, which is 18. The terms of reference continue:

... in addition, and subject to a maximum of four additional members per council except where councils are merging:
- in counties where there are existing town councils there should be four additional members per Borough Council and one additional member per Town Council ...

In my first reading of the terms of reference, Sligo, which is one of the five boroughs in the country, similar to Kilkenny, would have 18 councillors plus an additional four in lieu of the borough council that is moving. Around Leinster House, however, and from talking to colleagues from Fine Gael and the Labour Party, I have heard the suggestion that there is in fact a maximum of 18, including the additional four. I seek clarification on the question of whether Sligo is to have 18 or 22 councillors.

In the event that the maximum is 18, I wish to make the case, while acknowledging the expertise of Professor Gary Murphy in this regard, for additional councillors for the ninth largest urban centre in the country. We are all supportive of the need for rationalisation, savings and more efficient local government, as difficult as that is for all parties and councillors, but we must not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

The Minister of State, in her capacity as Minister with responsibility for housing, visited the Cranmore regeneration project in Sligo town last week. While the population within the borough is approximately 19,000, when account is taken of the population of the suburbs it is between 23,000 and 24,000, which means there are additional demands and a need for additional councillors to adequately cater for the people and the many diverse problems that come with a large area. The Minister of State will have seen the good work being done through the Cranmore regeneration project. In the event that the maximum is 18, then the budgetary situation in the Sligo area - which is, as I said earlier, effectively the ninth largest urban centre in the country - with the council already ¤73 million in debt and the old borough unable to balance its books, will be a challenge for those few councillors versus their colleagues who, obviously, are doing their best for the people in their particular areas.

We need clarification on this matter. I hope the clarification provided by the Minister of State will not be in line with the rumours circulating around the Houses for the past number of weeks. If so, there will be a need to move quickly to rectify this situation in the context of the five boroughs to ensure that where the population falls below the level required to ensure an automatic 18 councillors, this can be increased to 22 so as to in some way compensate for the loss of the borough while adhering to the theme of efficiencies and savings to the State. We must ensure there is not a lack of representation for larger urban centres such as Sligo.