Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I regret that the Minister of State has been given an answer to read out that substantially does not address the issue I have raised. Not only do area committees operate in a similar manner to municipal districts, they do exactly the same work.They do it without recognition for the status of that committee, without recognition for the chair of that committee and without the power to make decisions. It is desperately wasteful. All the chat about directly elected mayors is fine but it is entirely separate to the issue I am raising.

I do not understand why the Department cannot bring this forward. It is not something that needs to go to a citizen’s assembly or that requires significant consultation. It is a matter that can be fixed legislatively and if needs be, I will bring forward a Bill on it. The reality is that there are six local authorities around Ireland that do not get to do their business in an efficient way because the Department has hamstrung them by denying them the opportunity to have municipal districts. Will the Department respond to that, not with talk about directly elected mayors but with answers that will deliver for local communities in urban local authorities in Dublin, Galway and Cork?