Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The pay, conditions and pensions of county and city councillors have been issues in this House for as long as I have been a Member. In recent months, Senators Brennan, Paul Coghlan and Cummins, as well as members of my own party and Senator Craughwell, have been involved in trying to progress this matter. I am seeking an all-party approach to the issue. We all know how the system works. The Government will ultimately decide whether it will concede to giving better pay, conditions and pension rights to our county and city councillors. While we can all jump up and down, as it were, at every given opportunity, it will achieve nothing for the people we are attempting to assist in good faith.

As Senator Craughwell has done, I am asking the Leader if we could have an all-party approach to this issue. Perhaps in that way we can get to help the people about whom we are all concerned. It is not just at election time that some of us become concerned about the people who ultimately elect us to this House. We are concerned about them all the time. The way to advance this, however, is to work together with the Minister of the day. We can achieve something if we do that.