Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to have a discussion on a really important topic that has an impact on all of our lives. 1898 was the year that local government came into being and local councils were set up. My grandfather, Joseph O'Loughlin, was on the very first Kildare County Council. He died when my father was only seven, so we did not know him but 20 years after that, my father was elected to serve. Many years after that I was elected to serve in another area so I can say, with great pride, that three generations of my family served in three centuries. It is because of that background that I learned about how important local democracy is and how important it is to listen to people and be able to bring their concerns and challenges to the office of what was formerly the county manager, now chief executive, to the door of officials and also to the Chamber. We all know that some issues are better dealt with outside of the Chamber.

We have excellent public representatives who represent us right around the country, both party members and Independents. The organisations that serve them deserve mention. AILG, which represents and supports the role of our elected councillors, is a very strong voice for local communities through its work. It has produced two excellent reports, The 21st Century Councillor in Irish Local Government, published in December 2023, and Building Stronger Local Government, which was published in November 2024. We all need to take note of what those reports say. Limerick Councillor Kieran O'Hanlon, the current president of the AILG, and his team do really excellent work. The Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, is also deserving of mention. All of the political parties had meetings with LAMA recently. The Fianna Fáil group had a meeting with Brian Lawlor, Damien Ryan and Michael Anglim from LAMA about two weeks ago. It does a lot of good work. One of the really important things it does is showcase the very best of what happens in local authorities around the country in terms of their national awards. That is something that I would like to see brought here to Leinster House because it is important to showcase good examples and see how we can inspire others.

There is no doubt that local government is not just the cornerstone but the beating heart of our democracy. It is responsible for so many of the essential services that we depend on but it also helps to build communities around libraries, arts centres, playgrounds and leisure facilities, and by facilitating LEOs and all of the work it does with local businesses. Strong local government is absolutely essential for the future of our democracy. I would go further and say that weak local government undermines democracy because that reduces accountability, limits citizen participation and makes it harder for residents to engage with their local representatives. That leads to an inadequate resource distribution. One of the areas that I would really like to see the task force looking at is section 149 of the 2001 Act which provides that every act of the local authority which is not a reserved function is automatically an executive function. Time after time, and I experienced it myself as a councillor, we hear that X is not a reserved function and so it is nothing to do with the councillors. The relationship between management, staff, officials and councillors is important but most certainly we need to empower the councillors in terms of their functions and resources. We need to support them by ensuring they have adequate resources and supports, both financially and in other ways.

The terms of reference are currently under consideration, as is the membership of the task force. It is really important that the task force has members who are also members of local councils, so that they can speak on their behalf. That would probably be best done through the AILG and LAMA. We all voted on the principle of subsidiarity in the context of the Maastricht treaty. That principle is about decisions being made as close to citizens as possible. A rebalancing of power between the elected councillor and the officials and restoring town councils must be a priority.