Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would say that in large measure all of those political organisations have shrivelled to a paper existence now. Whether it is the comhairle dáilcheantair of Fianna Fáil or the constituency executive of Fine Gael, these are the organisations that actually run political parties. Branches of these organisations do not meet in the way that they used to, and the clock cannot be turned back. People have different things to do with their lives today, and spend their time differently. Going to cumann or branch meetings was a social outing 30 years ago, but now there would need to be a celebrity guest speaker at a meeting to get 30 people into the back of a pub - if pubs were open, which they are not currently - or indeed if local pubs still had rooms available for such functions. In essence, life has moved on.

I am anxious that whatever we do with planning and development and the day-to-day activities of local authorities, we reinforce a real duty on local authorities to communicate precisely what they are proposing in projects. For example, if an authority is proposing to install two new cycle lanes in Ranelagh and this will have the effect of restricting ordinary traffic in some parts of Ranelagh, all those involved must be informed directly of this by the local authority. There is nothing wrong with actually having to do what commercial businesses and pizza delivery services do, which is to leaflet people and tell them what is being proposed.

When it comes to consultation, I fully accept Senator Fitzpatrick's point, that it is easy for a small group of people to dominate a meeting with their item on the agenda, and other people who may have different concerns may not be able to get a word in edgeways. Therefore, I do not think Senator Boyhan's amendment is designed to make the case that public meetings are the only means of consultation. I know from the MetroLink project, for example, that real consultations with questions and answers do not really work in that context. Very elaborate displays and videos formed part of the MetroLink public consultation process, but when it came to the nitty-gritty and someone asked a question, for example, how long the green Luas line would be out of action if the project went ahead, that person was looked at as if he or she had asked how long was a piece of string.Basic “question and answer” information is not available in some respects.

I am very concerned that we are allowing local government, which is hugely important, to be washed aside by the transformation of a means of communication in the modern age. I believe that the old idea that there were people who would draw matters to people's attention is not what it was, and even residents associations are not the draw they used to be, by a large measure. There were times when we would see 120 people at a residents’ AGM, and I remember attending some of them and being surprised by the size of the turnout. It is very difficult for volunteers to keep up that level of activity and engagement. I take my hat off to people who, on a voluntary basis, try to participate and take part in the consultative process. My fear is that in cutting off obligations on the part of local authorities, even if it is part of addressing different opportunities to communicate, we are reducing what should be at a minimum, that is, the opportunity to have a public, voice-to-voice explanation of what is going on, and that there should be some participation by the public at such events. That is why I support the amendment.