John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like a debate on local government and how it is structured. We are now approaching the ten-year anniversary of the abolition of town councils. I say this as someone from County Louth, which has two of Ireland's biggest towns, namely Dundalk and Drogheda. We should consider the re-establishment of some town councils. I am not asking that a council be re-established everywhere that had one; it would be sufficient to ask for a study on towns with a population over a certain number. Such towns should certainly have some form of council. Dundalk, for example, has 40,000 people, and Drogheda has 41,000. Both are set to expand, each by 40,000, under Project Ireland 2040. We want 70,000 to 80,000 people living in these two towns in the next 20 years. My proposal should definitely be considered. There is nothing wrong with at least reconsidering the matter.

When there were town councils, there were obviously town clerks. These could be replaced with directors of services in large provincial towns. I ask for this because of the major issues faced by provincial towns, which are missing out because they are in with municipal districts. It was a mistake to abolish town councils nine years ago. We should consider having a debate on this. I am certainly not coming into this House saying town councils should be reintroduced tomorrow but there is nothing to fear from a debate about it. An analysis should be carried out by the Departments responsible for local government and housing to determine whether the right decision was made ten years ago and whether there is space for reintroducing town councils in substantial provincial towns with very large populations, such as Dundalk and Drogheda in County Louth.