Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We certainly welcome proposals from Sinn Féin. It is very good to hear proposals, regardless of how much creative accountancy would be involved in implementing them. I remind Senator Cullinane that Sinn Féin wished to reduce the number of councils from 26 to seven in the North. That certainly shoots down many of the arguments he has made over the last ten minutes in this House.

This Bill radically reforms how local government operates in this country, how it provides services and how the people and communities throughout the country are represented.

As part of the policy to enhance the role of elected councillors in local government, the position of county manager will be replaced with that of chief executive. Chief executives will have more statutory obligations towards elected members and this is spelled out in the Bill. They will be appointed by the Public Appointments Service but their appointment will be the subject of subsequent approval by means of a formal resolution of the relevant council. The Bill gives local councils the power to veto such appointments. If an appointment is vetoed, the recruitment process will begin again. This is a very important change to the system.

The Bill restricts the powers of local councils to use section 140 of the Local Government Act 2001 in respect of planning. In many ways this is a good development, particularly when one considers some of the excesses which occurred in certain local authority areas in that regard. The Bill provides that each of the 31 councils must establish a strategic policy committee, SPC, on social and economic development to function in the same way other strategic policy committees, as per the Local Government Act 2001. It also dissolves county and city development boards and provides that all councils have local community development committees, which is welcome.

I also welcome the Minister's statement to the effect that he is willing to accept amendments on Committee Stage. It is a refreshing change on the part of this Government that its Ministers are prepared to listen and to amend legislation if good points are brought to their attention.

I have a number of queries in respect of certain matters. In the context of community development, there appears to have been some suggestion that the chairperson of an SPC may not be a councillor. Will an amendment dealing with this matter be introduced on Committee Stage? I am of the view that the chairs of the SPCs should be councillors. The corporate policy groups of local authorities discuss very important matters and it is essential that elected members should be represented on these groups. There also appears to be a suggestion that the councillors who will serve on local enterprise boards will be chosen by the chief executive officers. That would not be a welcome development and I ask the Minister to consider amending the Bill in this regard. These are some of the issues about which the Association of County and City Councils, ACCC, has concerns. I hope that the points to which I refer will be addressed on Committee Stage.

I live in Waterford. I stand open to correction by the Minister but it appears that Limerick and Waterford are the two cities which will have metropolitan as opposed to municipal districts. That should allay the concerns of people who live in those cities. Waterford has a very proud heritage and next year will celebrate 1,100 years in existence. There was a degree of concern that the role of the mayor of our city would be diminished in some way.

The Minister's efforts in that regard, particularly in terms of financing and the provisions for Limerick and Waterford in the general purpose grant that he announced recently, will allay the fears of people in those cities. There is a strong possibility that rates will decrease as a result. Obviously, only the councils will be charged with making decisions on what to do with their money.

Recently, valuations were redone in Dublin and Waterford. People in the latter are concerned. Many small businesses have seen their rates increase by 100% under the new valuations. Admittedly, quite a number of businesses have seen their rates reduce by 40% or 50%. We do not hear much about them. People with small businesses become concerned when their rates increase significantly. I hope that, as a result of the general purpose grant, we will be able to look after them in some way. It is wrong to divide valuations between two Departments, namely, Public Expenditure and Reform and the Environment, Community and Local Government. Clarity and uniformity are necessary.

I have addressed the issue of strategic policy committees, SPCs, and the concerns outlined by the Association of County and City Councils, ACCC, about the chairpersons of SPCs. Some people seem to have a major problem with the scrapping of the development boards, but I have no problem with their coming under the authority of elected members. They provide accountability, whereas the accountability of some of the boards concerned is practically non-existent. I welcome their coming under the auspices of local authorities.

I welcome this major Bill. It has more than 200 pages. I hope that we will be able to tease out the sections comprehensively on Committee Stage. I am sure that all amendments will be debated at length and constructively.