Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am absolutely addressing the amendments. I am sure the Leader would agree that the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, represents all those councillors. It is important that they are given that recognition. Not only are we seeking to recognise them in the nominating body but we are also seeking to recognise them in the work they do under the 2014 legislation, in which the then Minister, former Deputy Phil Hogan, promised to review the issue. There is a new Minister but I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, to recognise the issue.

We fully support the amendments but we should go further and recognise the role of councillors and not just the nominating bodies. We can do that by amending the provisions for councillors. These are not just financial as there are other provisions required as well. I know LAMA and some of the other bodies have been raising such matters with the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and others. Those demands should be recognised as by doing so, the citizen would be given a better level of representation, which is what democracy is all about.

France has done that and there is one politician per 115 people in that country. We have one councillor per 4,850 people, so there is a big difference. The citizens deserve representation that they expect, and this can only come about by resourcing those who provide the representation. It happens here, as Senators and Deputies are well resourced financially and in terms of support but councillors do not receive the same level of remuneration or support for secretarial work, etc. The issue should be considered and in a democracy, no government should be afraid to do it, regardless of a public backlash. That is not the question, as the public deserves such representation. Elements of society may start a backlash but the public deserves this level of representation. We should never be afraid to revisit areas like this. In raising the issues today, I hope the Minister of State will relay the comments to the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly.