Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No, we will take two minutes each or as near we can. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Senators and councillors, it is with a heavy heart we meet. There was a time that when Ministers gave a commitment, it meant something. Unfortunately, the Minister of State now presides over what is now the Department of broken promises. During the Fine Gael leadership campaign, the then Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, sat where the Minister of State sits now and promised councillors €5,000 in expenses annually and a pay increase of €1,000 starting on 1 July. He was adamant about the time. We were told it was written into legislation. The Minister of State will be aware this has not happened.

I appreciate that the Minister of State has only got his feet under the desk and we wish him the best in his role. I am aware of his previous work and I know he is a hard worker and comes with that reputation. I have great hopes. I implore him to give me a date for when the pay increase will start. That is the simple question he is here to answer today. When will the expenses kick in and will there be back pay to the date from which the increases were promised?

We are haemorrhaging talent from councils. In the Minister of State's electoral area, a Fianna Fáil councillor was replaced in recent days. In my own county of Westmeath, there was a Fianna Fáil co-option in the previous week.

The week before that there was a Fianna Fáil co-option in Offaly. Those are only three of which I am aware. I am sure it has happened in other parties too. I implore the Minister of State to take a stand on this issue in his new Department. I ask that he would hold his head high when he leaves office and say he did the right thing by councillors.