Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I said no powers had been taken away. In fact, we are being very proactive in trying to give back powers. If the Senator had been here for most of the debate on the planning Bill last year, he would know that we gave back powers to councils. We have enhanced their powers because planning is a major function of councillors, among many others. I was first elected to sit on a council in 1999, 20 years ago, as a 21 year old. I watched councillors who did not always want to use powers they had, some of which have been eroded in the past 20 years. I am certainly a believer in giving councillors the powers they need to do their job. I ask all councillors, particularly new councillors, to use their powers and take them seriously and realise the opportunities they have. They are the directors of the companies that run their counties and have a lot of powers. I often hear councillors tell me that they do not have powers. I stress to the Senator that they have a lot of powers under legislation that they do not get to use very often, but they should use them. If they work collectively as a group, they will be able to do so. We will find ways to give them back more powers. That is why votes were held in three local authority areas on directly elected mayors to try to give back decision-making powers to local areas and drive that agenda. I think the Senator supported that process and we will continue with it. He can rest assured that we believe not only in councillors having powers but also in their using them responsibly.