Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are discussing a Bill that allegedly reforms local government. It is not a local government Bill because when it becomes law, the elections that will be held will not be local. Under the proposed Cavan-Belturbet electoral area, people from Blacklion, a village in the west of the county on the Leitrim border, will vote in the same electoral area as people 40 miles away in Cavan town. Are such elections local or part of local administration? The answer is "No". The legislation will deprive people, particularly in rural areas, of democratic representation. There should be positive discrimination towards rural areas. This Bill will cut the number of councillors in rural areas and increase the number of councillors in the east coast by the same number. That is not acceptable.

The Title of the Bill is-----