Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and welcome him to the Chamber.

As a former councillor, in speaking about councillors' conditions I want to highlight an aspect of their work about which we seldom talk. When we hear about the unacceptable figure of 10,000 people who were homeless in the State last month, we are filled with disgust. No one is frustrated more by the figures than the people on the ground who work with families, children and the elderly. I draw the Minister of State's attention to the figures because each number represents a real person who is asking for help. The people who are dealing with the human beings on the ground are councillors in every town and county and those involved in charities who deal with the homeless. Councillors in local areas are the ones who are trying to help a mother as she cries in placing her children in a hotel room for another night. There is uncertainty in such an instance. The councillor is the one on the telephone to the local housing officer pleading for someone to hear the plight of yet another person in crisis. It is a local councillor to whom such persons go first. Why do we treat councillors with disrespect and such unfairness? They work way beyond the regular nine-to-five hours. People need their help at all hours of the day and on all days of the week. As I was a councillor for over two decades and know how hard I worked, I know how hard they work. Local councillors want to help. They want to change their world. That is why they get involved in politics in the first place. They are not paid a massive amount of money. They are paid a total annual allowance of €16,645 and receive some expenses. Many of them have two or three jobs. Many of them have trouble in meeting their bills, but they go out and work with families to try to do their best to solve the problems of others. They try to bring jobs and money to the local economy. They are the unrecognised first responders in many crises. We owe them more for the service they provide.

Fianna Fáil supports fair pay and conditions for local representatives. It is also important that the local government system be overhauled and reformed to give local representatives additional powers and responsibilities. Local government is a key tier of government, the one closest to citizens. It is vital in a healthy democracy that representatives be empowered and are able to represent everybody. A fair and equitable pay and conditions framework is central to that objective. The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform announced in February that he would establish a review of councillors' pay and conditions. The review is due to be completed by the end of 2018 and is being undertaken by an independent consultant. The move comes on the back of the reduction in the number of councillors under the Local Government Reform Act before the local elections in May 2014. With the abolition of some councils and the amalgamation of others, the number of local representatives decreased from 1,627 to 949. That is unacceptable. The 949 members were surveyed in July and August 2016 and the overwhelming conclusion was that councillors' workload had increased greatly. The geographical areas for which they were responsible also doubled in size. There is now one councillor for every 4,500 people.

I am upset because I do not think the Minister of State is listening to councillors. When he is not listening to them, he is not listening to the people whom they represent and who are coming to them. When the Government abolished town councils, we lost funding for every town council. As a result of the amalgamations, there is now one budget in local authorities. It is not enough. I can only speak about my area of Carlow. When we talk about central government funding, in Carlow we receive one of the lowest amounts in the country. I have brought up the issue several times with the Minister of State, but he is not listening. I am asking him to listen to councillors and Senators because we represent them. Mainly, I am asking him to listen to the people, those who are crying out for help and who depend on councillors. I hope he will come back with a fair deal for councillors and listen to the people.