James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I deliberately waited until the Minister of State had responded because I wanted to hear what he had to say. I found very little fault with what Senator Boyhan has said. We need more local democracy and we must reinforce and re-empower our councillors. Many of them have told me that far too much power has gone from their hands to the executive. I believe that we need to strike a balance. I could not disagree with a word the Minister of State uttered in terms of the fact that we need to be careful with the wording of the amendment. He has offered to meet the Senators to find a formula of words that can meet the requirements yet highlight the need for care, caution and reinforce the power of the locally-elected and democratically-elected representatives of the people.