Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----I have to say the Minister of State's commitment to this issue is honourable. I am not sure where the logjam is, but I believe that the Minister of State wants to solve it.

It is important to put this debate on councillors' pay, terms, conditions and employment, or the lack thereof, in context. There is no master-servant relationship. They are not employees. It is the same with the Minister of State and me, in that we are not employees. We must get that point straight first.

On 21 April 2015, the then Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government advised the House during a Commencement debate that the representational payment to councillors was a recognition of the work they chose to undertake when they stood for election. According to her, that payment was never meant to be a salary and councillors knew this when they took on the commitment. Clearly, that response was prepared for her by the Department, so it must have reflected the Department's thinking.