David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is important that in discussing a Bill to reform local government, we take the opportunity to commend all those who serve and sit on local authorities across the State, and all former councillors, and commend those who will put their names on the ballot paper in the upcoming local elections. It is a very difficult and demanding job, as all the Senators who have so far contributed, have said. Without the input from local councillors, local government would not be as strong, robust and as close to the people as it is. We should commend all those people who enter politics at local government level on the fantastic job they do.

This Bill has been a long time coming. Putting People First was launched with much fanfare in Dublin Castle 12 months ago. Now we can see what the Minister called the most radical reform of local government in 100 years. I cannot agree with that. I do not believe it is as radical as the Minister proposes. There are positives in the Bill but it is most certainly not as radical as it should have been. To suggest that it is the most radical reform of local government in 100 years borders on gross exaggeration.

Consecutive governments have undermined and under-funded local government, all in the name of reform. With each passing decade local government has lost power and had its budgets cut. In the spirit of constructive criticism I welcome the positive aspects of this Bill. It gives a commitment to holding a plebiscite on a directly-elected mayor for Dublin, which I support. I would like to see that in other cities across the State. It would have been the right thing for the Government to put the issue of mergers and amalgamations in Waterford, Limerick and Tipperary to the people too. As the Minister of State undoubtedly knows, there are strong opinions on both sides of the debate on whether there should be amalgamations. In my own city, Waterford, there are strong opinions on both sides. It is a very balanced argument. When there are balanced arguments it is only right and proper to ask the people who will be directly affected if they want to see a merged authority. The Government missed an opportunity there.

The Bill goes on to say that if the voters support a directly elected mayor the Minister will not act on the outcome for at least two years. This is far too long. The Minister should act within 12 months of the outcome of the plebiscite. We in Sinn Féin want to see a mayoral office with real power. There is no point in directly electing a mayor to an office that does not have real power.

There is no point in having elections to an office that has no real power. In the case of any city in the world with a directly elected mayor, he or she has real devolved power and real authority. If we are going to move in that direction, the mayoral role must carry real power rather than being a mere ceremonial position.

The proposal to establish economic development strategic policy groups in all local authorities is welcome. This is an area in which local government should assume a greater role in the future, especially in the context of changes, such as the establishment of local enterprise offices and so on, that are coming on board. Local government must play a much more active role in the economic development of towns, cities and counties.

The reporting mechanism for councillors to provide information on a quarterly basis of all attendance at meetings will give the public a better insight into the work of the people they elect to local councils. I also welcome the introduction of a register of payments to elected members in respect of attendance at conferences and seminars. This issue has been a bone of contention and sometimes a cause of controversy in the past because of perceived abuses by some councillors. The public has a right to know how these expenses, which come out of public moneys, are being spent. I welcome the provisions to tighten up that regime and ensure greater accountability. I also welcome the initiative to ensure local authorities' draft budgets are made available to the public by early October. I ask the Minister to take this a step further by ensuring councils hold public events to engage the electorate in the process.

The posts of city and county manager will be replaced by a chief executive and there is to be a rebalancing of power between the executive and the elected council. Although this is a welcome change, the powers granted to elected representatives are very limited. In fact, nowhere in Putting People First do the words "power" and "councillor" appear in the same sentence. Having read the Bill and the explanatory memorandum, it seems clear it is all hype and no substance on this particular aspect of reform. There are no powers devolved from any Department. No extra decision-making powers are given to councillors. I acknowledge that addition functions are being given to local authorities and a total of 24 reserved functions may be performed by municipal district members. This is a smokescreen, however, because, as an entirely new structure, all of the functions of the municipal council are, by default, "new"’. Of the 105 functions outlined in the Bill that may be performed by local authorities, only 35 are new functions. None of them is ground-breaking. Allowing councils to adopt an annual report or decide to "hold or to cease to hold membership of an association of local authorities" is hardly radical or historic. In fact, many of these proposals are already common everyday practice for local authorities. Nowhere in the Bill are there proposals to tackle the housing crisis or the waste management crisis, provide education facilities or support the fire service. The only reference to planning is to curtail councillors' powers through the removal of section 140 notice provisions as they relate to planning.

In short, no additional powers are being granted to councillors and no powers of substance are being devolved by central government to local authorities. I have argued consistently in every debate on this issue that the one thing local government needs is real power and the one thing central government has not given it is precisely that. We could argue the same about this House; the one thing the Seanad needs is real power, but that is the one thing the Dáil has never and will never give it. Departments like to keep power - they do not want to transfer responsibility to local government. We had an opportunity here to reform local government radically by giving elected local representatives power in areas where they currently have none. It was an historic opportunity given the mandate this Government received in the general election, but it is being squandered.

In contrast with what the Government is proposing, Sinn Féin wants to see maximum power devolved from central government to local authorities and a shift of power from city and county managers to elected representatives. These powers include economic planning, waste management, provision of water and sewerage services, housing and many others. Current local government structures are not fit for purpose. We all agree on the need to reform local government, but this Bill does nothing to change the fundamental fact that local authorities do not have the powers they need. Any reform of local government must ensure the efficient and cost effective delivery of services, put in place structures that are fit for purpose and have democratic accountability at its core.

Again, this Bill does none of that. Due to the introduction of the regressive local property tax, local government continues to be starved of funding. Councillors need funding to repair roads that are subsiding, but the money is not there. Senator Ó Murchú spoke about leaks in houses. The maintenance grants of local authorities have been slashed and the local councils do not have the money they require to carry out repairs to their local authority housing stock. Across the board there have been major cutbacks in local government in the last number of years, all of which have eroded services, yet people are paying a property tax for which they expected to receive extra services. It did not happen.

I also reject the Government's proposal to cull the number of councillors to 949. This is a drastic decrease and leaves the State with one of the lowest numbers of councillors per head of population in the OECD countries. We propose there should be a minimum of 1,165 councillors. This is in line with the reform of public administration in the Six Counties and would mean harmonisation of that reform across the island. Currently, councils are stifled by limited powers and under-funding. Current local government structures should be maintained until the Government commits to real reform based on a devolution of power from central Government. Sinn Féin believes that to achieve local government that is democratic, accountable and delivering, there must be significant and far reaching reforms, not the type of window dressing the Minister, Deputy Hogan, has presented in this Bill. I believe the reforms we propose will lead to local authorities becoming genuinely fit for purpose.

The functions and powers of local authorities are central to their ability to plan and deliver local services and to be held accountable by the public they serve. The key services of local authorities should be housing, planning, environment and waste management, water and sanitary services, economic development, roads and policing.

Providing housing must again become a central role for local authorities. Local authorities should build and preserve an adequate supply of housing that is maintained and owned by councils and provided at an affordable rent to the public. What has taken place in recent years, started by the previous Government and continued by this one, is the privatisation of social housing, with local authorities not being given the money to build local housing. Under our stimulus package, Sinn Féin is committed to building 9,000 homes in 18 months. There are 112,000 people on housing lists across the 34 local authorities, and there are 33,000 empty homes in unfinished estates.