Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to debate this issue. I thank also Senator Walsh who is possibly retiring at the next election and who did much work regarding local government. Senator Walsh was one of the first to propose a representational payment for councillors and the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Noel Dempsey took that on board. Councillors around the State have the former Minister and Senator Walsh, among others, to be thankful to.

Senator Walsh has spoken on the PRSI payment and councillors' lack of pension provision. In many instances this is a councillor's only job and this should be of concern to us all. The days of being a voluntary councillor are long past because there are so many competing alternatives. If one wants the best people one needs to make sure they are properly catered for and compensated appropriately.

Reference was made to the powers of councillors which have, in reality, been eroded by central Government. We have the most centralised government in the world which, in reality, is down to four Ministers who control the Government. However, when it comes to local government, over the last number of years we have seen the roads transferred to the National Roads Authority, housing authorities have taken over the provision of housing for groups and organisations, driving licences have been removed from local government and water has been removed from local government. The power that was once held, controlled and decided locally on issues of importance to local people has now been centralised. Senator Walsh and I have long advocated that giving councillors power is an issue of rebalancing. Appointing a chief executive who is a public servant and who is elected would be a transformation entirely in the way we do democracy in this Government and for decision making. Ultimately, it is the chief executive rather than the public representatives who has the final say in so many areas . We often see this in this House and in the Dáil where it is the Secretaries General who make a lot of the decisions, depending on who the Minister is. There is a lot that needs to be done for public representatives into the future.

It is unfortunate that the survey results on local government reform will only be issued in the next few days, by which time there will be no action in the lifetime of this Government. Action is, however, required.