Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise a matter on which the Cathaoirleach has worked hard for some years. In the eight years since I became a member of the executive of the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, I have met umpteen Ministers and civil servants to discuss councillors' remuneration and conditions. I am delighted that the revised Moorhead report, on which considerable work was done, was approved at Cabinet today. The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, has primary responsibility for the matter.

I compliment the members of the AILG and the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, who have worked tirelessly over the years to get this implemented. I also thank the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy McGrath, the two senior Ministers who rubber-stamped this decision at the Cabinet table today.

I give a special mention to the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, who was very open to meeting the AILG, LAMA and any politician or other interest group that wanted to engage with him. If the Moorhead report had been implemented, as laid out, many councillors would have been in a worse position. The report from the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is fair and balanced and will help to encourage younger people into politics. As we know, councillors are probably the hardest working politicians. Anyone who was a county councillor knows well the full weight of work that is on the shoulders of county councillors. I welcome this development and thank all those who have made it possible.