Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to discuss the proposed merger of Cork City Council and Cork County Council. There has been debate about this issue for many years. It is a topic that has been debated for over a decade. The Alf Smiddy report, which was published last year, recommended a merger. We are now having a review of that report. There is genuine concern that we are reviewing another report. There should only be one local authority in Cork. I will park that view for now and say that we need to look again at the process and at what we are doing. The executives and members of the two local authorities have made their views known, so it is about time we ask the public its view. We need to hold a plebiscite. The people of Cork city and county have to be asked whether they want one local authority. That is the key. Everybody is having a say except the public. It is inappropriate and if we were to have a plebiscite we would have a decent debate on the topics and issues that affect the people in Cork. We have seen mergers happen in places such as Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick and these worked to some degree. We need to engage in this debate and we need to get everyone involved. This debate is being run by academics, executives of the two local authorities and, to a lesser degree, public representatives. The people are being kept out of it. A plebiscite is the only appropriate avenue now for a genuine discussion and hopefully come up with a conclusion that can be backed by the people of Cork.