Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is why I am trying to ensure there is no duplication of votes. The Minister should consider how to approach this issue. There must be a legislative method. Every death is published online. A link between www.rip.ie and the local authorities would make the process easier, cheaper, more efficient and more straightforward. The Minister might revert to me on this suggestion. IT works in wonderful ways and it is easy to do things at the stroke of a pen.

Senator van Turnhout welcomed the provision on the availability of Bills containing referendum proposals for inspection in post offices. Bills are not often inspected at post offices, but they may be sometimes. I presume that copies will be available in libraries. The information is online, but those who are not IT-friendly could visit their nearest libraries. Thanks to local authorities, we have a system of local libraries around the country. They are almost as available as post offices.

The Bill sets out additional requirements in respect of political donations, but I will say no more about that other than to compliment the Minister on the openness, honesty and transparency that he has brought to the Government in this regard. Parties must disclose more information about the nature and specifics of donations, making the process more transparent.

Sections 20 and 21 provide for the supplemental register for applications regarding presidential and European elections. Given the Minister’s comments on these, I will not reiterate them.

Section 28 deals with planning and development reviews and the Minister has outlined what will happen with the amalgamated counties. That is a welcome change because there is no point in having one development plan going one way and another going the other way. I ask that the new district plans for district authorities be statutory plans. The Minister has mentioned that this new arrangement is being brought in for the counties being amalgamated. In counties in which there will be new district committees instead of town councils I presume the district plan will have the same statutory effect as an area plan to ensure input at local level, statutory rights are given to district councils and a devolution of functions for district plans as well as county plans.

I refer to the devolution of functions to local authorities, about which Senator Michael Mullins who is in the Chair is always talking. The Minister has said the new Bill will be published shortly and I look forward to its publication. He has asked various Departments to give him information on it. He has devolved functions to district councils, but I look forward to even more being devolved to district councils and the principal towns in districts having the same functions as town councils. This is a bold move by the Minister which has had to be made to ensure councils do not duplicate work. However, we must ensure the good work town councils were doing is replicated at district level, particularly at area planning level. We must ensure what was being done by Westport Town Council, for example, will not be lost, but I know it will not be because the Minister has this in mind with the district councils and the devolution of functions to same.

The Putting People First report sets out the reforms the Minister has made to the structures which had remained largely unchanged but which should have been changed since 1898. I fully support the Bill and the reforms the Minister is making which no previous Government attempted to make. We look forward to the devolution of functions not only to county council level but also to district council level in order that people will be able to play a good part at that level. I thank the town councillors for the part they played. The district councils will replicate some of the good work done and ensure what the Minister is doing in regard to counties comes into play.