Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. I would also welcome the establishment of a task force. As other Senators have said, recent research into the role of a 21st-century councillor carried out by the AILG revealed, as any of us who have had the privileged position of being an elected county councillor, as I was for a short time on Sligo County Council, will know, that the role is multifaceted. Councillors work on the front line and have many roles, including advocating for local communities, trying to solve problems, trying to fix things and providing a lot of information. Another key finding of this research - anyone who has been a councillor will be acutely aware of this - is that the role of local councillors is changing and developing. As more complex and technical aspects are added into the role, it is crucial councillors are given the training and support they need. A huge part of that, as has come up in every contribution, is a proper wage. Doing the job of an elected representative on a local authority properly is a full-time job. It is a highly responsible job and should be paid as such. If we expect local councillors to hold the local authority to account, we need to be prepared to pay an adequate wage that will attract top-quality people into the role.

I welcome the recognition in the programme for Government of the need to enhance local authorities’ fiscal autonomy. A large part of that will be through funding and certainty of funding. What I found so frustrating as a new councillor was being dependent on annual Government grants, whether they were for roads, parks or public spaces, which required the local authority to apply for certain grants under various schemes. This approach introduces more bureaucracy which then distracts from the services by the executive which can be offered to the local authority and impacts on the elected members' ability to prioritise and direct how the council is to deliver its services. I cannot understand why there are not certain levels of funding that are directed, particularly for things like play parks or recreational facilities and their upkeep, which needs to be done every so often.

The enhancement of local authorities’ fiscal autonomy is dependent on certainty and stability of this funding. This kind of certainty would led to an increased congeniality among elected members and improve decision-making as priorities can be agreed strategically and with consensus over the course of the life of an elected council rather than resulting in an annual scramble and the distribution of piecemeal projects which reinforces the concept of clientelism and undermines the vision of a 21st-century councillor, as outlined in the AILG report.