Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Where public representatives fit into our debate on class K is important. In many ways, we need to broaden the debate because we must attract people to participate in public life. In my part of the world in Cork, the five youngest members in local government from 2014 to 2019, across all parties, refused to run for re-election. So the young people who were elected when they were in their early 20s and early 30s decided to step out of politics after just five years. I am friendly with all of them and am aware there were disillusionment and pay factors. Encouraging people to enter politics is a huge issue and stamp K is definitely one aspect but there is another massive issue. If we do not attract a wide range of people then only a certain sector of society will enter politics, which is not good for democracy, politics or anything else.

I hope that in the lifetime of the current Dáil, we will have a genuine debate on what we want for our public representatives and politicians and how best to serve society. The current system is attractive to people in a certain age bracket who are mainly from a certain demographic and approaching retirement. Unfortunately, for a person aged between 25 and 30 five years in public life is an awful burden because it is a burden on one's family and on one's existence if one wants to get married or have kids. There is no support throughout the entire system of local authorities to help and support councillors through that period of life.

We need to have an in-depth debate about class K, where councillors fit into the system, what we expect from them and where both of these Houses fit into the equation. The Senator is correct because traditionally, a politician in this House could remain here for between ten and 15 years. However, 40% of politicians serve just one term and so must move on. It is because of that there is a gap. We must also ensure that what happened in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s does not happen now. As we need to change our policies and approach, we need to have a real debate across the entire Oireachtas. It is set in law that we must have local elections in 2024. Therefore, we need to solve this issue by 2024 or a vast number of young male and female politicians will leave politics because public life is not worth it. Society will be affected by that as the proportion of young people per head of population has totally changed over the past 20 years. Stamp K is definitely a part of this whole debate that we must have on governance.