Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I wish him well in his endeavours and with the local democracy task force. I acknowledge the work by his predecessors John Paul Phelan, Deputy Peter Burke and senior Ministers on the Moorhead report. We need it fully enacted. I commend representatives of LAMA and the AILG on their work on behalf of elected members lobbying and making representations. Will the Minister of State provide clarity on town councils? I think he said they would not interfere in the workings of the municipal area. There are large towns that a case could justly be made for but there were town councils with a quota for election of 78 and an electorate of 1,000 in 2004. There were also large towns with thousands in population that did not have a town council. Town councils were not fair but that is not to say they would not have a role. There was concern at the time that the areas surrounding the town councils outside the town boundary suffered and did not get their share when there was a strong town council. As the population continues to grow, will councils continue to increase and at what number do they become unwieldy?

The salaries of mayors and cathaoirligh changed in 2014. They need to be looked at again. It is a disincentive to taking up what should be an honourable position. In some cases, they are full-time positions and councillors may have to give up their jobs or cut down hours to take on the role of mayor or cathaoirleach, particularly. I am sure Dubbin City Council and Cork City Council may be different but in other local authorities it is a disincentive. City area chairs in some areas such as Cork city do not get an allowance to chair area meetings. No one has ever raised this issue with me but I have experienced it. It is more of an issue for local authorities but I raise the idea of drivers for cathaoirligh. In a county the size of Galway, someone could be driving from Portumna to Clifden or Carna to Williamstown. He or she is preparing for the next meeting, thinking and may be rushing, within the speed limit, of course. The least cathaoirligh should have is a driver or the option to have one. They may not have to use them every day but perhaps it could be explored in possible reforms. Auto-enrolment for pensions is coming in. Why are councillors not included? Newer members need the certainty of having a set pension.