David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In Dungarvan in particular, there has been a very good relationship between the elected representatives of the town council, the county council and local organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce. The town has come on in leaps and bounds because of that association and because of that local democracy and the synergy that existed between the town council and the people who live in the town. The town councils will be a loss to towns like this.

The problem with the Minister abolishing town councils is that he has not given any real or new powers to the new municipal districts, the new merged councils, the new councils and the reduced numbers of councillors we will have. He is abolishing the town councils, but there is nothing of substance to replace them. What we have is less of the same, particularly when we consider the removal of water services and other services from local government. This is a step backwards.

We made the point yesterday that by comparison with international or EU analysis, this State falls far short of the number of public representatives - local authority members - per head of population. If this section passes, the situation will be far worse.