Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by my colleague, Senator David Cullinane.

Picking up on the Irish Water issue, there is no doubt that the new European Commissioner, Mr. Phil Hogan, left a legacy of disasters in his wake, with septic tanks, water charges, etc. Another legacy he left behind was the reorganisation of local government and, in particular, the way local development companies were treated. A haphazard approach is being taken by local authorities to their local development companies. In some counties responsibility for the delivery of all programmes will be put in the hands of one company. For example, in Galway one company will deliver local development programmes such as Leader and SICAP, social inclusion and community activation programme, in a vast area from Portumna to Cleggan, whereas in other counties of similar size such as Mayo and Donegal several companies will deliver the programmes. This random approach to the delivery of programmes will be another unmitigated disaster. We raised these issues when the Local Government Act 2014 was being put through. It is time for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, to call a halt to what is happening and rethink the approach because it will not work. Will the Minister attend the House to discuss the matter? The decisions by the local community development committees in county councils are being taken by a handful of individuals. Out of a committee of 15, for example, in Galway, only five were allowed to sit in on the decision because of so-called conflicts of interest involving the ten other members who were involved in local development in their areas. It does not make sense that people with that expertise were kept out of a debate and making a decision when the whole idea in having them on the committees was to enable them to bring their expertise to bear.