Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Aire is very welcome. I welcome this timely debate on local government. The Minister was in Limerick last Monday for the launch of the directly elected mayor. It is a very exciting time in terms of local government reform. What is being proposed and what the committee is going to look at will be a template for the rest of the country. Currently, local government is funded through the Department and there is a lot happening in terms of housing, water services, roads, etc., but there are a lot more things I would like to see happening. We sometimes see houses that have been boarded up for quite a while. If extra funding was provided, a lot of these houses would be back in use more quickly. There should be easy access, a fast track or something that could be approved by the Minister's Department. We constantly talk about issues such as housing, roads and even small side roads and footpaths and repair of same. These are issues local councillors are hit with on a daily basis.

I would like to compliment the local councillors on the wonderful work they do. I was a councillor for 17 years. I support the review of the whole structure of local government and what councillors are paid. I hope that report is published soon because it is supposed to be a part-time job but it is a full-time one, and I know that from my 17 years as a councillor. With the removal of the dual mandate, Deputies and Senators were prevented from being members of councils and the life of the councillor became an awful lot busier.

There are a lot more things happening in local authorities. There is the economic development side of it. There are an awful lot of things happening in local authorities that years ago were not looked at. There is a lot more pressure on councillors in terms of being able to deliver. They also have to look at what they can do to bring in jobs into the local authority area. This should be looked at in terms of the remuneration of local authority members.

On the delivery of local authorities, under the directly elected mayor, we are going to have to look at the functions and with that will come the issue of remuneration. That was pointed out to the Minister on Monday in Limerick. When it is extended around the country, it cannot be done on a piecemeal basis. Once Limerick is up and running and is successful, it should replicated around the country. This is an exciting opportunity. Councillors are sitting on that committee, as are people from different backgrounds across different communities and they bring their own experience. I welcome the fact they are to report by next June and that there will be a directly elected mayor in Limerick city and county by 2021 and that it will be the leading local authority.

Local authorities around Europe deal with issues like health and education. Councillors have a role and they may sit on ETBs or on HSE committees but the role they had in the past has been eroded. We should look at strengthening their role because councillors have a huge contribution to make in terms of education and health. They meet people on a daily basis and listen to their issues. They have a huge role to play in local government. We have to get the local government house in order but there should be an expanded role for councillors and it is something that should be looked at in the long term.

On funding for roads and footpaths, quite a substantial grant is given to local authorities but there are a lot of roads and footpaths that are not done. We need to look at increasing funding in that area. Another area, which is under the Department of Finance but which affects the local authority areas, is the living over the shop scheme. When one looks around towns and cities, one sees vacant units. I only have to look at my city of Limerick. There are fewer than 300 people living in the city centre in flats or apartments over businesses. There are so many vacant units. It is an area that local government and the Department of Finance are going to have to look at because we need to get people back living in city and town centres to help in terms of economic delivery for local authority areas.