Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have only ten minutes. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, is welcome. Like the 43 Members of this House who are elected mainly by county councillors, the six Members who are not elected by county councillors all have opinions and want to speak on the Bill, even though we do not know nearly as much as them. This shows the interest of every citizen.

I welcome the overall efforts to reform local government and make it more efficient, as it costs €5 billion to €6 billion of taxpayers' money every year. This seems an outrageous amount. Do we need so many administrative staff? Is there a way we could do away with the tens of thousands of staff involved? We have too many structures for a small country. This Bill recognises that to some degree. Regarding Senator Keane's point, does Dublin need four local authorities? Would one be enough? What is the Minister of State doing as regards the Dublin area? Senator Keane already asked this question, but I would love to hear the answer.