David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is their view. The Minister has not spelled out to anybody exactly how those savings are going to be made. He plucked figures from the air because he wants to sell this as saving money, but money will not be saved. What he is doing is making it more difficult for the people of Waterford city and county to be able to drive forward the ability of Waterford city to develop, which is wrong.

I do not believe the Minister's reforms go far enough. The one thing local government does not have and the one thing central government has never given local government, is real power and real responsibility. The Minister had a once in a lifetime opportunity to really reform local government but he went for the soft options, prompted by the troika, to slash and burn and to cut numbers. However, he has not given any real powers and he has not dealt with any of the real poisoned chalices which exist in the system in terms of how local government and services are delivered. He has not changed any of them.