Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said at the outset of this debate that he would listen, and he has listened on previous Stages. He has brought in amendments not only to listen but to act on the requests of various organisations. This is a perfect example of this. For the past two days, we have been listening to complaints about powers not being devolved to local councillors. This is game, set and match as regards the devolution of a power to councillors for the betterment of their areas. All anybody can do is welcome this because it will mean that, again, the relevance of the elected members in the area to the business community will increase. Those who are responsible and who do it properly will be the people who the electorate see fit to return in future elections. That is what local democracy is about at any time. This is an excellent piece of work that gives each municipal area an opportunity to look at its set of circumstances and make a decision based on them. That is the way it should be and I welcome it.