Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious of time. I commend the Minister for having the courage to come forward with these proposals. However, there is a question of equity, where 25% of the councillors in the country have been excluded from the additional €1,000 and I think that is wrong. That needs to be addressed immediately.All councillors should be treated equally in terms of the payment.

When we consider councillors throughout the country, many of them are earning less than those in receipt of social welfare payments and doing nothing on behalf of the State. We have to take a reality check and decide whether we want democracy that is fully functioning and responsive to the needs of the citizen. If we do, we must resource those who provide it. For example, the average county manager earns between €124,000 and €175,000 in Dublin, plus allowances and expenses. Councillors do at least half the workload of any county manager and are on call 24-7. I am not sure a county manager is available after 5 p.m. but councillors are always available. I agree with the concept of setting up an independent commission, which has been done in other jurisdictions. I have studied and examined it. It does work. If we take the example in Scotland and England, the average councillor earns approximately £17,000 sterling as a base pay, which is about €20,000 to €22,000 given today's exchange rate. That is the point from where we should be starting and then we should examine the possibility of the commission and take it forward from there.