Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The point is the Minister is not addressing that. He has not addressed the democratic deficit of the elected members in any of his responses. That is the weakness in it and it is the real criticism. The Minister is the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. Local government is part of the Minister's remit. He should be enhancing the competence of local government in its broadest sense and giving the citizens the right to engage at virtually no cost. That is the issue at stake here. They will have to pay a fee, which the Minister has not clarified. He said he will do it by regulation or next week. That is fair enough. I am patient and I think it is reasonable to ask the Minister to go away and think about it, but the Minister knows what he is going do. There will not be any great surprise. The Minister does not need until next week to share what he will do with us on that issue. The deficit is the real core issue. When someone puts a microphone in front of the Minister in the next few days, he will have to be able to stand over the process as democratic, open and transparent, and one with which citizens can engage. It will not do to say the Minister has had legal advice from the Attorney General and he cannot share it. This is the Parliament and we are asking the questions. That is what I want to hear the Minister say. I want him to tell us and reassure us on how he will strengthen and address the democratic deficit in this process. That is the real issue I am trying to hammer home.