Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I do not doubt the Minister of State's commitment to local government. He has done significant work on councillors' remuneration and supports. I acknowledge that. I will not go into all of the detail. As the Minister of State accepts, there is a lot more work to do.

It was suggested that my amendments are, by coincidence, similar to other amendments. I would not like it to be suggested that the Seanad Office, the Bills Office or anyone else would divulge or let anyone know the contents of other amendments.There was a deadline of 11 o'clock that day. An email was sent the night before. I do not suggest anyone in the House would know the contents of amendments in advance of their publication or would be engaging in the exchanging of information in respect of the amendment. I tabled this amendment. It is heartening that the same amendment was tabled by two Senators from across the House who are in the Chamber now. It was the exact same, so there should be no difficulty. What difference does it make? I wanted to put that on record because it is important in the context of the integrity and the functioning of this House and how it manages amendments that have been tabled. I was not aware of the content of the amendment until the cream list was published and I was delighted to see the amendments were the same. I acknowledge the significant work the Bills Office does in preparing amendments. The staff do exceptional work, with great integrity and professionalism, and I send out a clear message of support to them.

I cannot accept the Minister of State's response, with all due respect to him. I like him as a person and think he is an exceptionally good Minister of State, but it is not enough for him just to suggest a review may be carried out in future. Today is the day. This is the primary legislation. I appreciate the difficulties he has and the fact the Dáil cannot be recalled. I accept people are anxious to get the Bill to the Áras an Uachtaráin to be signed but there is no rush. This can happen in two, three or four weeks. There is no deadline for getting this over the line. Let us get it right. I set out to engage with sitting county councillors throughout the country, which I think I do reasonably well, and to ask them for their views. I circulated the pre-legislative scrutiny report, some of which was not included in this legislation, although that is in the past. We are here today, in the final stage of this process. I tabled a second amendment but, unfortunately, we ran out of time. Was I wise? That amendment was not in the name of any other Senator, so it is not the exact same as the amendment we were talking about earlier. Moreover, only five amendments have been submitted for today and none of them has come from the Government's side.

It is important we have this opportunity, in the context of what is our major function in this House, to polish up and improve legislation, as the Tánaiste said when he visited here in the past year or two. This is our opportunity. The Government needs to big enough, strong enough and brave enough to support a good amendment when it sees it. If we are advocating for local government and city and county councils, we must stand with them and make their points.

Local authorities and their members should be entitled both to be members of MARA and to be a city or county councillor. Indeed, I was once both a county councillor and a member of a harbour company board, and I think we did a pretty good job. Senator Ward talked about the functions and the success of that harbour company in Dún Laoghaire. The legislation will disqualify elected councillors from membership of the board or committee of MARA and that is wrong. We can talk all we like about supporting them, making them stronger and having reviews such that they will be the kernel of everything, but we have the power today to make that decision.

I will push the amendment because I have set out from the beginning to ensure this would be debated. I believe strongly in it and think it should be pursued. People should stand up and be counted. They can either side with elected members and ensure they will have a meaningful role in MARA, or they cannot. I thank the Minister of State for his time and his comprehensive response.