John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I thank the Members of the Seanad for extending their invitation to me to attend. I was delighted to accept it. I always welcome the opportunity to engage on the matters related to local government.It is something that I hold dear, having served as a councillor for 11 years and as mayor on two occasions. I am very aware that Members of this House have a huge interest in local government affairs. All Members of this House are dedicated advocates of strong local government and as Minister of State with responsibility for local government, I really appreciate their engagement on matters relating to local government. This is my first opportunity since being appointed at the end of January to address the House on the issue of the local democracy task force, arising out of a commitment in the programme for Government. I was honoured to be part of Fine Gael's programme negotiating team.

As the Cathaoirleach rightly referenced, the establishment of the local democracy task force was a key recommendation emerging from last year's Seanad Public Consultation Committee report on the

future of local democracy. I am pleased to have the opportunity to address progress on this matter. To begin, I will give Members a little bit of background to the establishment of the local democracy task force. The programme for Government recognises the vital importance of local government and states that the Government will convene a local democracy task force with the local government sector to finalise a programme for the reform and strengthening of local government to ensure more effective and efficient delivery of services and the implementation of Government policy for citizens. The programme for Government specifies that the task force should consider the principle of subsidiarity and give consideration to devolving more powers to local authorities for local services. The Seanad report called for the devolution of more powers to local authorities through the legislative process to strengthen and enhance local democracy and the delivery of additional local services. It also states that the task force should examine how to strengthen the framework and powers of municipal districts and area committees. The task force will also consider if there is a role for a small number of town-focused bodies to be introduced on a phased, regional basis to provide a focal point for raising the concerns of large towns and co-ordinating town-focused activities. It is not intended that any proposals in this respect that may be forthcoming from the task force would interfere in the parity of structures and powers at sub-county level across the State.

The programme for Government specifies that the task force should consider granting councillors greater input and control over the development and implementation of local authority budgets and

mechanisms for enhanced physical autonomy. The Seanad report called for greater revenue-raising powers for local government and I am sure that is something the task force will examine under the finance pillar. The programme for Government states that the task force should examine rebalancing power between elected councillors and the executive to ensure that elected officials have a right to be consulted on a greater range of decisions and a right to know of all other decisions in a timely manner. It also states that mechanisms should be examined to increase the accountability of the chief executive and directors of services to councillors for executive decisions. The programme for Government also states that the task force should examine the timely reporting of the National Oversight and Audit Committee, NOAC, and engagement with public representatives, which is an important piece. NOAC does really good work but unless councillors are provided with information in a timely fashion, enabling them to compare the performance of their local authority with that of others, they cannot hold the executive to account. I expect that to be a significant element of the recommendations coming forward.

Finally, the programme for Government sets out that the task force should consider the proportion of local authority members to population. It also contains commitments to examine how to deliver greater diversity within the sector. A substantial body of work has been completed on this issue, including the Seanad Public Consultation Committee report on the future of local democracy.Other organisations have also carried out extensive research in this area, including the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the 21st Century Councillor in Irish Local Government by the AILG, and the Building Stronger Local Government report by the AILG in November of last year.

It is my intention that the significant body of work that has already been done as part of this will form the basis for the deliberations of the task force that is being established, that the foundations that have, essentially, been put in place will be built on, and that recommendations can come forward to me, as Minister of State, that I will be able to implement. Some may require legislative change and others may not.

I look forward to hearing the contributions from Members. It is important that councillors' voices are heard on that task force. They will be an integral part of it. I know all Senators will have their own views on the membership and the terms of reference, which perhaps I can get into a bit more in my closing remarks. I look forward to hearing what Senators have to say on this task force and the significant body of work that will be undertaken by it when it is established very shortly.