Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I came into the Chamber because I was watching proceedings on the monitor, and heard Senator Craughwell courageously speak out on terms and conditions and pay of public representatives. Local elections will be coming up next May. This is a great exercise in democracy at local level, community involvement and so on. I commend anyone from any party or persuasion, independent or otherwise, who puts forward his or her name to stand for the local council.

My concern, and there is considerable anecdotal evidence that I am correct, is that there will be much fewer candidates in 2019 than was the case five years ago. I have chaired party conventions and have spoken to members of other parties who did the same and a startling number of conventions are uncontested. Some have had fewer candidates than there are places to fill. I fought several council elections in my time, seven in all, and had to fight for my nomination each time although I was probably regarded as a good candidate.

There is a reason for this. First, there is the lack of an adequate recompense regime for local councillors because it is now a full-time job. People are afraid to say that because of the media. No more than Senator Craughwell, I am not afraid of the media. I have been here for almost 12 years and my take-home pay is significantly less than when I was first elected. The expense regime has also been reduced. I am not complaining about myself but people at local level who want to give service to their community as councillors should be adequately recompensed.

The media thrive on headlines. No doubt Senator Craughwell and possibly myself will get a good going over for this tomorrow. I have seen some of the best politicians in this country highly blackguarded by the media for trivial, small things. I have seen possibly the most effective politician my county has produced since Daniel O'Connell, namely, John O'Donoghue, driven out of politics by that kind of scurrilous reporting.