Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the sponsors of the Bill and the aims and objectives contained therein to support and enhance the role of councillors. Most of us were councillors for a number of years and bring that experience to the House.I acknowledge the work of councillors who are, in a democracy, the closest elected representatives to the citizens. It is important that we acknowledge the mandate of locally elected members who do untold good work for their communities.

As the Minister of State, who is a democrat, knows, democracy brings accountability and with accountability is the right of elected members who have the mandate from the citizens and the electorate which represents them to make representations on behalf of the communities they represent. How elective representatives and councillors can best function is a fundamental issue. It is a fundamental issue that they are democrats who are elected by the people and who have a mandate. They need to be supported to operate and represent those people efficiently and effectively.

We operate in a democracy, not a bureaucracy. As a Member of this House, I am concerned that bureaucrats can sometimes dismiss or ignore legitimate representations made by councillors and Oireachtas Members. We are very dependent on the co-operation of officialdom, whether in local authorities or other public agencies. We are dependent on timely and accurate responses when representations are made. We are also dependent on consistency in how those responses are made so that there is not favouritism in any way to one Member over another. I fundamentally believe it boils down to respect for the mandate a councillor carries when he or she is elected.

I have to put on the record that many officials in local authorities give an excellent service and respond in an excellent way, and we should acknowledge that the vast majority of officials, from CEOs down to directors of services and the various managers of housing and local authority departments, are excellent in their responses. There are always some outliers and that is why concerns have arisen.

The Bill is before the House today because some people do not give fundamental respect to the councillors who make recommendations to them. I agree that is not acceptable. The Minister can clarify the position. Local authorities have customer charters and objectives within their corporate governance structures which require various managers within local authorities to respond in an effective and efficient way. If they are not working, I am not sure what the sanctions are. Is there a slap on the wrist? Where does a councillor go if he or she is not getting adequate responses?

I served for eight years on Waterford County Council as an elected councillor. The monthly meeting was the ultimate in accountability. Monthly reports were provided by the management teams. Any councillor had a remit to raise any issue in the public domain on the record and have it properly minuted and reported by the Fourth Estate. The system worked well.

Given the significant demands on councillors and executives, the monthly meetings alone do not suffice. There are corporate policy groups, strategic policy committees and various metropolitan and municipal district meetings. There are opportunities for councillors to adequately raise issues of concern. When they are raised and put on the public record, it is important that councillors get the responses they deserve. It can be frustrating when that does not happen.

I have always believed that there should be a healthy tension at council level between the executive and council membership. We all recognise the executive functions of the management teams and the reserve functions of councillors in terms of policy and decision-making and the adoption of development plans, estimates and the budget. They are all very significant decision-making responsibilities of councillors and that should be reflected in the respect that officers of the councils give to those very same directors of the council, as I call them. They are the members and directors of the board of that council. Officials should be held to account. If they are not doing their job and responding to councillors, we need to review the situation more closely. While I recognise the aim and ambition of the Bill, I am not sure legislation is the correct way to go about it. The Minister might be able to clarify that.

Freedom of information has been mentioned. Councillors should not have to seek answers via freedom of information requests. As I said, common decency and respect should mean that councillors are responded to in a timely and efficient way. I understand that regulations are already in place under the Local Government Act 2001. I am trying to be helpful. Perhaps we should consider a review of those regulations to take into account the proposals in the Bill and the concerns people have expressed.

Should we review and perhaps engage with the IPA, representatives of the CEOs, management of local authorities, the AILG and LAMA? I suggest that we establish some type of committee to examine and scrutinise performance levels within local authorities and how they are responding to councillors, and engage with councillors around the country and survey them to see how responsive local authority officials are to them. We would then get real feedback on how well the system is working. If one has an elected mandate and raises an issue of concern which is being dismissed or ignored that is unacceptable.

The ambition of the Bill is good, but I am not sure it is the way to go about addressing this issue. I look forward to hearing the response of the Minister of State. We should come together and not divide the House if possible. We should consider a cross-party and independent approach, engaging with all of the stakeholders including, as I said, representative bodies, the IPA and management teams in local authorities, and see whether we can find a way forward which will satisfy the very real concerns of councillors in terms of having their legitimate representations addressed.

This is a worthwhile debate. I again thank the proposers of the Bill. We should never underestimate the importance of an elected mandate, whether it is a councillor, Deputy or Senator. Any citizen of the State who puts his or her name on a ballot paper deserves respect. I have been in public life for almost 20 years, having been a Senator, councillor, Deputy and former Minister of State. I have encountered occasions where officials have ignored legitimate representations. There should be some element of scrutiny of that and some sanction if necessary. We cannot allow bureaucrats to dismiss or ignore the mandate of elected representatives. This is a worthwhile debate and I look forward to hearing the contributions of others.