Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This Bill, I hope, will in some way return an element of power back to the elected members. At municipal district level the councillors will have the power to decide and prioritise work to be carried out in the local district. As an integral part of the budgetary process a schedule of work is to be carried out in its local area. It is significant that they will set the priorities. Councillors will adopt a local action plan for the development of every sphere of economic activity within their area. The emphasis on economic development and economic activity is welcome. While some members have criticised the renaming of the county manager to that of chief executive officer, that sends out a positive message in respect of business, commerce and activity and enhances the stature of the county council and the chief executive officer of the council. Through the SPC for economic development, councillors will be responsible for the planning, oversight and governance of the local enterprise offices. For the first time, this will give councils a meaningful role in the provision of local enterprise support. I think all members want to see greater oversight and greater accountability.

I welcome the fact that the CEO will have to report to councillors on his or her performance on a monthly basis in a businesslike fashion, similar to the reporting relationship that exists between the CEO of a company and its board of directors. Councillors will have a greater involvement in the appointment of the chief executive officer. The council will be given the power to reject a recommendation of a person for the position of CEO from the Public Appointments Commission. This is the first time we have ever seen this happen.

I welcome the new national oversight and audit commission which will be established to report on the performance of each local authority. It will highlight where there has been good practices and not so good practices. It is a pity that commission was not in place during the past decade because some practices in local authorities were anything but good.

We all see the impact of bad planning decisions daily with ghost estates and other examples. That was not the fault in most cases of local councillors but of well-paid officials.

I welcome the fact that on Committee Stage we will have the opportunity to table and debate amendments. I support the request that the chairs of strategic policy committees, SPCs, will be held by elected members. The Minister has indicated a willingness to look at this amendment. I share the concern that councils will not have the option on the use of the title of "mayor" or "cathaoirleach". I would like to have an opportunity to convince the Minister of instances in which the title of "mayor" would be the appropriate title to use. There is no doubt that when elected members are on business abroad, the title of "mayor" carries much more weight and sway than that of "cathaoirleach".

The Bill has many positive aspects. It reflects the fact that we are in a changing Ireland and that population shifts have taken place throughout the country. Some small towns have town councils whereas large sections of the country that had experienced significant growth had no local representation. While the Bill is not perfect I hope our work before the Christmas recess will enhance the legislation and that it will see us into the next decade or more. We are reforming local government for the first time in 100 years. It is not unreasonable that the Bill would not be perfect on its first outing.