Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am glad to have an opportunity to address this issue. I wish to apologise on behalf of my colleague, Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, for her unavoidable absence. She is the Sinn Féin spokesperson on this area and a constituency colleague of the Minister of State. She has done Trojan work on this issue and has made an enormous amount of representations.

Like most of the Senators here, I am a former local representative. I genuinely believe that what is on offer here today is, to coin a phrase, tokenism. Expenses are expenses just like it says on the tin. The additional money that has been bandied about has been wrapped up in ribbons and bows. It is a token gesture to satisfy a long time request from councillors to be treated fairly. Expenses are expenses so the Government is just reimbursing councillors and local representatives for money that they have already paid out of their own pockets. I for one can vouch, as a rural representative, that during my days on the council it was a miracle if I broke even at the end of the year. The work costs the vast majority of local representatives money, in particular rural ones. These people choose the job because they are local activists and community workers. They take the step to become public representatives in the interest of representing their areas and improving conditions in their local communities.

As all Members will be aware, the councillor is the politician who operates at the coalface of society. They meet the people they represent on a daily basis in their communities. A councillor is the go-to person. Irrespective of what problem an individual or constituent has, the councillor is the go-to person.It is a 24/7 job. Based on the new rates to be announced today by the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, whereby €1,000 will be added to the representational fee, which is taxable, the average earnings of a councillor who works 24/7 will be far below the minimum wage. This is not acceptable for the hours of dedicated work that councillors put in. It is tokenism. The Minister of State inherited this issue which was on the desk of his predecessor. The offer today is made in the hope that this issue will go away, but let me assure him that it will not go away. I think I would have the support of all Members, because most of us would have been local representatives. We know first-hand the workload and how minuscule the remuneration is.

The change in the travel allowance that is also being introduced will in essence reduce the net income of many councillors. The taxable representational increase, the vouched expenses, which are already in existence, means councillors have been out of pocket for the period they have been public representatives, and in my opinion some councillors will quite possibly have a net reduction in income when all is taken into consideration. The requested 40% increase in the representational fee from the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, would be a more realistic move. It would be a start.

I believe the powers that be are afraid to be seen to give something meaningful to fellow politicians as this would be frowned upon. The Minister of State, his predecessor and all involved are shirking from the issue. I do not think that is fair, and there is no justification for it. There is no recognition of the local representatives, be they members of political parties, Independent and non-party councillors who work at the coalface and are the people who are the first port of call for constituents.

While progress is being made, this is the first baby step in a long journey and we are a long way from satisfaction.