Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I welcome Councillor Anna Grainger and Tom to the Visitors Gallery. They are great councillors. I commend Senator Black and her colleagues for putting down this Bill. Any improvement in the terms and conditions of councillors is something that we unanimously support across the floor of the House.

There are a couple of key points I would like to see. I would like to see resources available for councillors when they require advice for public relations, when they require expert advice when it comes to county development plans and so they can retain independent advice. Similarly, they should be able to retain independent financial advice when entering negotiations on budgets. This type of resource should be available to them. It should be independent and I certainly believe that would help them and enhance them doing their job. Obviously, I hope this task force makes fundamental recommendations on the future role of local government. I know the Minister of State has a very sound listening ear when it comes to this.