Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Bill legislates for Tipperary; that will do us for now. We will handle the hurling end of it ourselves.

I welcome the Bill which is practical, pragmatic and necessary. The first thing I noted in it was a reference to my county of Tipperary and also to counties Limerick and Waterford. Given the amalgamations, we will need a new register of electors before the next local and European Parliament elections which are due to be held in 2014. The Minister and I am sure the local authorities involved rightly spotted this in advance and have seen that there is a crossover between Tipperary North and Tipperary South and electoral areas in the county.

The Minister, the Department and the local authorities involved have quite rightly spotted the need for this. They have seen that there is a cross-over between north and south Tipperary in electoral areas within the county. It is important for candidates and voters in the election to be aware of exactly where the votes will be cast. There is a great deal of confusion. I can think of one or two councillors who are affected. I know a councillor who was not able to vote for himself before these changes were made because he lives half a mile outside the boundary. Now that he can vote in the area he represents, I am sure he will be telling all his neighbours they can vote for him as well. There are many such cases across the country. I am glad we are doing some work in this regard in this legislation.

I would like to welcome the section of the Bill relating to development plan reviews. The Minister has ensured such reviews are provided for in the Bill. I spoke to him about this issue five or six months ago when it became apparent to me that reviews were about to take place in my own county of Tipperary. Indeed, new development plans were about to be commenced in some urban local authorities. When I communicated with councillors across the country, it became apparent to me that is a national issue and that a great deal of money was about to be spent on plans that would never come to fruition because of the proposed changes in the local government system.

I would like to mention the example of Cashel, which is a very small town in County Tipperary. I was advised by officials in the local authority that it would cost approximately €80,000 to do the work needed on the Cashel development plan. It seemed before this proposal was made that the plan in question would be washed away because of these changes. I am glad the Minister has taken account of this and provided for discretion to be given to local authority officials and members to decide to allow the existing plans to roll forward, or not to commence the review stage of the plans. That will ensure money is not unnecessarily wasted. I am glad that pragmatism has again taken centre stage in this instance.

I welcome the Minister's decision to tidy up - if I can use that term - the situation regarding the manager in Waterford. Can the Minister tell the House whether that specific appointment will be a full appointment or an interim one? I live very close to County Waterford, as the Minister knows, and I have an interest in this situation as a result.

I was pleased to note in the Minister's speech that a new local government Bill will "be published later this year". Could the Minister be a little more definitive in relation to the timescale in that regard? We had hoped the legislation would be published before the summer recess, but obviously that has not been possible. Many people are interested in the Bill for various reasons. Can we get some information on it?

As Senator Keane has said, it is hoped that the forthcoming legislation will be ground-breaking in terms of devolving power from central government to local government and providing a full range of powers to the existing town councils, which will give way to the new municipal district councils in due course. When the relevant legislation is passed, in effect the municipal district councils will be the relevant arm of local government in built-up areas that are surrounded by rural areas. As part of that legislation, it is important for financial autonomy to be given to the municipal district councils so that those who are elected at municipal district council level will be able to collect and spend finances at their discretion.

In that context, I would like to ask the Minister about 15% discretion that applies to the local property tax. Will the moneys in question be available at municipal district council level? If, for example, a local municipal district council that has a town within its area wants to undertake a specific project, will the legislation allow them to collect money to undertake that project? This is a very important matter. I would like the Minister to respond to me in this regard.

Can the Minister give the House an indication of when he expects the boundary commission to be established? I know it says in the Bill that it will be established "as soon as possible". Can the Minister indicate when we can expect to have the commission's report? In other words, when will we know where the boundary lines for the new European Parliament constituencies will be drawn?

I will not go into the issue of the transposition of Council Directive 2013/1/EU in any great detail because it is quite self-explanatory. It makes sense. We have to do it. I think we are meeting it in the right way. We are coming forward to tackle that. I am pleased to note that it is the first directive of 2013. Under previous Administrations, many directives were not transposed into Irish law for many years after they had been published.

I am pleased that the Bill provides for further transparency on donations. I welcome the decision to close off the loophole which meant that up to now, it was possible for a donation that was received by someone who had not asked for it not to be included in the report.

With the indulgence of the Chair, I would like to support what has already been said about the postal vote and special voters list. It is a very serious issue. Many people are being deprived of their right to vote. As Senator van Turnhout said, an understanding of that right is generally instilled in us by our parents. I am sure the Minister and Senator Keane will appreciate the funnier side of this matter. When politicians at local level visit hospitals and nursing homes, the first thing we are generally asked is whether there is about to be an election. That has happened to all of us on many occasions.