Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being in this House to discuss this very serious issue and for his work on it to date. I had mixed views on the Local Government Reform Act 2014, which was the most radical reform of local government in over a century. This legislation has led to large-scale reorganisation of local government around the country. With the reduction in the number of elected councillors by more than 40% and the reorganisation of structures, as well as the allocation of additional powers, the work of a councillor has increased dramatically. This increase in workload has brought to the fore the issue of the remuneration of councillors.

I am very conscious in this Chamber, that councillors elect the members on the panel to the Seanad. It is very important that we would not be tempted to look for headlines but would be encouraged to look for solutions. As chairman of the cross-party group representing councillors, this is not my first time to speak on the topic.

Last week I welcomed the Minister's announcement on the increase in expenses and allowances for councillors. I see that announcement as an acknowledgement that the remuneration up to now was insufficient but I also see it only as a first step rather than a resolution of the issue. Having previously been a town and county councillor myself, I know how strongly many councillors feel on the issue. I know first hand the workload and the long hours involved in representing constituents, writing letters, making calls, arranging clinics and attending meetings. The increased workload, combined with a negative media portrayal of public representatives in general, is having a very demoralising effect on public representatives and is making public service a less attractive option for many.

For many, being a councillor has become a full-time commitment, as has been said previously and the allowance they are paid represents considerably less than the minimum wage if calculated on an hourly basis. Therefore, I believe we must increase the basic salary paid to all councillors to reflect the long hours worked every day of every week by each and every councillor in order to represent their constituents.

I am asking the Minister, together with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, to use the opportunity of the upcoming negotiations on the successor to the Lansdowne Road agreement to look anew at the remuneration for public representatives. I would urge him to please reflect on the basic representational allowance currently on offer to councillors and put in place a remuneration package which reflects the actual work carried out by these councillors, the long hours, the meetings, the clinics, the travel and e-mails, as well as many community events that councillors must attend.

With the local elections not too far away, many councillors are considering whether they will contest the election. If the remuneration package on offer currently is not improved, many will decide to call it a day. We do not want to see this as a situation where we only have people who are independently wealthy, those who have other objectives or agendas or those sponsored by wealthy interested groups can afford to run for office We do not want that. In our local councillors we have an experienced cohort of able individuals whose contribution is for the good of their community. They are willing to serve.

As the Minister has said, nobody gets into local politics to make money but in setting their terms and conditions, we should not exploit that willingness to serve, rather we should reimburse all councillors appropriately.