John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this issue. I am pleased to provide an update on the position concerning the review of the role and remuneration of elected members of local authorities. The issue of supports for councillors is one to which I have devoted considerable time and attention, including in this House, since taking up office as Minister of State with responsibility for local government and electoral reform in June 2017. Since that date, I have made a range of improvements to the supports provided to councillors. In November 2017, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and I co-signed amending regulations under section 142 of the Local Government Act 2001. The regulations provided for a new allowance for councillors worth €1,000 per annum, backdated to 1 July 2017, in recognition of the additional workload following the 2014 reforms. They also gave effect to a new optional vouched expenses allowance worth up to a maximum of €5,000 per annum, which councillors may choose to opt for in place of an existing un-vouched allowance worth approximately €2,500 per annum. This is in addition to the composite annual expenses allowance paid to councillors, which is designed to defray, in a structured way, reasonable expenses incurred by them in attending council meetings. I would also point out that the representational payment paid to councillors, which is currently linked to a Senator's salary, was recently increased to €17,060 per annum in line with adjustments arising from the public service stability agreement.Notwithstanding the current situation, I am strongly of the view that it is important to support councillors appropriately, with due regard for transparency and accountability to ensure that they can effectively carry out their role as elected local representatives. Fully aware of concerns expressed by councillors themselves and in these Houses about their current remuneration regime, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and I agreed to the commissioning of a review of the role and remuneration of councillors. On 21 June, I appointed Ms Sara Moorhead, senior counsel, to conduct this review.

Based on the agreed terms of reference, the review will involve an in-depth examination of the role performed by councillor including: their statutory reserved functions; the political and community leadership role they perform; the governance responsibilities of council members; and their representational role within communities. The outcome of this review will be to more fully elaborate on the role of the councillor and it is intended that this will inform an examination of the current system of remuneration of councillors, with a view to proposals for a remuneration package that is representative of and commensurate with the role.

The review will be informed by input from my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. While it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the findings of Ms Moorhead's review, I can confirm that her work is well under way, and a number of meetings with different groups have taken place and submissions have been sought.

I set out in the terms of reference for the review that she consult with local authority elected members and their representative organisations, political parties, local authority chief executives and other appropriate stakeholders. It is intended that a survey of individual councillors will begin shortly. The review will produce an interim report. I note what Senator Gallagher said earlier about the frustration at the rate of progress. The commitment I gave in my statement at the time was that following Hallowe'en we would have an interim report. I have received no indication of any deviation from this, although I note in the script that I have been given by the Department that it states before the end of the year. It is still very much my intention that the interim report will be published in November. The reason for this, as has been pointed out, is that people are making decisions about whether they are going to contest local elections and that report, while not being the full finished product, should be able to give people some help in reaching those decisions. The timing for the final report will be considered thereafter and will be published in full in the spring of the year. Many people will be making those crucial decisions well before then which is why an interim report is vital.

When the review is complete the findings will be subject to discussion between the two Departments and will be submitted thereafter for the consideration of the Government. Let me conclude again by thanking Senator Gallagher and other Senators for their initiative in placing and keeping this item on the political agenda.