Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With 130 or 140 weeks to go until local elections, a debate is needed on local government and how it will be prioritised in the next two years. There have been huge changes in local government, particularly since 2014. In my area, the abolition of the town councils was a controversial and, in many ways, wrong move. We had six town councils in west Cork, in Kinsale, Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Bantry, all of which played an important role representing the public and serving people at a local level. The town councils were all abandoned in 2014 and there has been a deficit ever since. We need to have a genuine debate about what we want for local government, how we want it to be effective and what powers we want to give to the people. It is appropriate now, with the local elections two years away, to have a debate. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, should come to the House to set out his vision. Town councils should be a part of that vision.