Seanad debates
Wednesday, 22 February 2006
Local Authority Services: Motion.
4:00 pm
Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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I move:
That Seanad Éireann acknowledges the achievements of the Government in:
—supporting the work and development of local authorities;
—providing €2.94 billion in revenue for local authority services and initiatives in 2005;
—promoting the modernisation of local authorities so as to deliver a system that puts local government at the heart of the community, thereby boosting the overall economic, social and cultural development within the community;
supports the Government and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in:
—pressing local authorities to get to construction as quickly as possible the schemes approved in the Water Services Investment Programme 2005-2007;
—encouraging local authorities to consider the provision of services on a regional basis;
—and their efforts to strengthen and develop local government structures and services throughout the country.
I welcome the Minister, Deputy Roche, to the House and thank him for taking the opportunity to discuss local government issues. It is a topic that is close to my heart and one that has been central to the policies of the Progressive Democrats over the past 20 years.
Our 2004 document restates clearly our commitment to, and ideas for, better local government for our society. As well as our policy implementation and initiatives in Government on national and international issues, the Progressive Democrats are working in local communities in a way that keeps us both accountable to and in touch with the electorate. We have 67 local area representatives and 29 able and committed councillors maintaining that link, which is an important one.
Ireland has enjoyed unprecedented economic development in recent years. The Progressive Democrats in Government have pursued policies aimed at maintaining full employment, strengthening the competitive position of the economy, keeping taxes on labour low and focusing on the low paid, the elderly and the vulnerable.
Twenty years ago, when the Progressive Democrats were formed, unemployment was at 17%. We had both mass unemployment and mass emigration. In the same way these problems damaged local communities, our recent economic prosperity has transformed positively those local communities. The population has grown in every county, employment is up and standards of living have improved. That poses new and different challenges for Government, and local government in particular. There will always be challenges for people who want to see constant improvement for their country. There are challenges to deliver improved infrastructure and services.
Our economic success encourages us to be even more ambitious. The Progressive Democrats believe we can address these challenges by taking small measures at local level as well as big ones at national level. Our ideas, hard work and dedication have shown that we can implement change at national level. The Government has shown itself to be committed to delivering progress in our local communities also, and that is to be welcomed.
In that context, we call on the House in our motion to acknowledge the achievements of the Government in supporting the work and development of local authorities. We must voice our support for the 34,000 or so employees in local authorities who work in our communities to provide housing, planning, roads, water supply and sewage treatment. They develop incentives and controls to protect our rivers, lakes and air and limit noise. They provide recreation facilities and amenities and work locally in agriculture, education, health and welfare.
The Progressive Democrats, with our Fianna Fáil partners in Government, have provided €2.94 billion in revenue for local authority services and initiatives in 2005. Income available to local authorities through the local government fund rose from €797 million in 1999 to €1.29 billion in 2005, an increase of more than 60% in six years. We in the Progressive Democrats work to promote the modernisation of local authorities to deliver a system that puts local government at the heart of our community. That will boost the overall economic, social and cultural development within our local communities.
This development is dependent on what is called "better local government". The Better Local Government programme for change was published in December 1996 and set out a programme for the future development of local authority services. We must have optimum usage of resources, better customer service and increased efficiency in the use of those resources. We support improved financial management in local authorities and new systems to support the achievement of better value for money.
Local authorities have a responsibility to ensure efficiency and value for money in their activities. I understand the Minister and his Department are actively involved on a range of fronts to ensure that objective is achieved and monitored. In particular, I welcome the first report on service indicators in local authorities, published in July last year, which details the performance of local authorities in 2004 in respect of 42 indicators of service.
The Progressive Democrats in Government have also worked in co-operation with local authorities to see full implementation in 2004 of new financial management systems based on accrual accounting principles. These developments, in conjunction with the work of the value for money unit in the Department, the Department of Finance's guidelines in the public sector, and the public procurement procedures, are important and welcome.
As I stated, local authorities are at the heart of service delivery in communities across the country. Local government has a major role in the provision and development of the country's physical infrastructure. A key element of that is water supply and wastewater and sewerage services. That is in the context of the economic development I set out earlier. The demand for water and sewerage services has increased significantly over the past 15 years. That surge in demand is a result of unprecedented growth in the economy.
It is right that the House expresses its support for the Government and the Minister in pressing local authorities to get to construction as quickly as possible the schemes approved in the Water Services Investment Programme 2005-2007. Last month, the Minister, Deputy Roche, confirmed, first, that the amount of red tape involved in getting water and sewerage schemes through from design to construction has been reduced. Once councils receive preliminary sanction for a water or sewerage scheme costing up to €5 million, they can now proceed to construction without any further clearance from his Department. Second, he called on local authorities to respond quickly by moving ahead urgently with the hundreds of projects for which funding has been allocated.
The key element of the Minister's statement, from the Progressive Democrats' point of view, was his recognition that local communities are anxiously awaiting those works. Much will be said about resources, value for money, planning, sustainable development etc. These are important factors but at the end of the day, people are waiting for this infrastructure. Local authorities must respond to that need and to the Minister's call.
In December, the Water Services Investment Programme 2005-2007 set out a comprehensive schedule of new schemes to start over the next two years. The programme is made up of 899 projects with an overall capital value of €5.1 billion.
It makes provision for 59 ongoing major schemes, 193 new schemes to commence construction in 2006, 191 schemes to commence construction in 2007, and 196 schemes to advance through planning with a view to construction as soon as possible.
In addition, grants to local authorities for water mains replacement and rehabilitation have increased from 75% to 90%. The Minister's intention is to encourage increased take-up of the funding available from the Department for such works in order to ensure the continuing quality and reliability of our public water supplies.
The Minister can only announce the schemes and provide increased funds, but it is local authorities, controlled by all parties across this House, which must implement those plans. Consider the situation in my own constituency of Limerick West. Limerick County Council has been dragging its heels on the issue of new sewerage schemes in Adare, Patrickswell and Mungret. The people in these areas have a right to know the reason for the delay in commencing these schemes. Funding of €9 million for those schemes was approved by the Minister in 2004, almost two years ago. Sanction to draw up contract documents was granted in February 2005.
Given that the amount of red tape involved in getting schemes through from design to construction has been reduced, why then are we still being told the council is drawing up contract documents? Why is the local authority no nearer putting the schemes out to tender? All these questions remain while there is, for example, an obsolete scheme in Adare, where virtually raw sewage goes into the river and where development is at a standstill. Meanwhile the local authority tinkers with the idea of upgrading the current treatment plant, rather than pressing full steam ahead with the new scheme, which has been approved. Rather than tinkering with or upgrading treatment plants, such as the one in Adare, new schemes must proceed.
County development plans are in place to set out the overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development in local authority areas. The legal basis for development plans is set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000. In the making and amendment of plans, local authorities are required to carry out widespread public consultation, adhere to strict timeframes and ensure consistency with other plans. This is as it should be. However, in the case of Adare, for example, any upgrade of the current scheme would be totally contrary to the council's county development plan and would breach the council's rules regarding distance from houses. If we are to have confidence as a society that future development will be both properly planned and sustainable, we must at least expect local authorities to adhere to those plans.
In Limerick city, its environs, and across the county it is great to see co-operation by local authorities — working together to provide necessary infrastructure. I welcome the Minister's approval of more than €54 million for Limerick schemes to start in 2006 and more than €34 million for schemes to start 2007. This is an example of the significant funding being made available and should be acknowledged across the House.
Notwithstanding the correct criteria set out in development plans, local authorities must sensibly consider the provision of services and infrastructure on a regional basis, not just in their own area. For example, the National Roads Authority has 11 regional offices, concerned with infrastructure provision at a regional level. Local authorities may need to consider how two or three of them collectively serve the needs for the larger geographic area in terms of waste management for example. I would ask the Minister to consider this aspect in the future.
Returning to water scheme development, other problems arise. In the absence of new sewerage schemes, certain developments cannot go ahead while others, tied into private treatment plants, are progressing. This is not satisfactory. Communities need the full capacity of new water schemes to cater for existing residents and the developments being proposed and planned. All applicants must be treated equally. In my own case, I have spoken at length with the council, but remain unconvinced that the drive and commitment is there to deliver the infrastructure needed in Adare, Patrickswell and Mungret and for the schemes to start this year. It is vitally important that local authorities progress schemes due to start in 2006 and 2007, and that national programmes are commenced and completed without delay. I ask the Minister to ensure this happens.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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I second the motion. I thank the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, for coming in to take this debate. Given that he is a busy man it would have been easy to have sent in his Minister of State. I endorse what has been said by my colleague, Senator Brennan, and put it in context.
As a country we have enjoyed unparalleled growth in recent years. Some 20 years ago when the Progressive Democrats were founded the unemployment rate was 17%, whereas now it is only a fraction of that and we are not faced with the prospect of people having to take the boat. We are in the happy position of looking to other countries to provide us with labour we cannot provide from within our community. While those people are welcome they have put demands and pressures on local authorities just as the growth has done, particularly in areas around Dublin. I would be more familiar with what has happened in Kildare where there has been exponential growth in recent years in terms of people coming to live in the county and the pressures on the infrastructure and the attendant pressures that brings to local authorities.
Companies such as Intel, Wyeth and Hewlett Packard have come to Kildare. The disposable household income in the county is greater than €17,000 per annum and is above the disposable household income for the nation as a whole. The population has increased to 164,000 with the attendant increase in two seats in the county. As the Minister is aware from his own experience in Wicklow where he was a member of a local authority, this has put huge pressures on infrastructure and services, schools and so on.
I can recall vividly that 12 to 15 years ago when one tried to argue the case for a school extension one was told about demographics, that the population was declining and that there was no need for the extra facilities. Those of us in the counties near Dublin said that did not apply to us. Even then the population was increasing. There are pressures on waste disposal but there has been a huge improvement in that area as money is being put into these services. It was the case that local authorities were major polluters. I had an experience in my area where the local angling clubs successfully sued the local authority for pollution from the sewerage system. Frequently inadequacies in waste water treatment were given as reasons for not granting planning permission. That is much rarer than several years ago.
I will not go into the area of nitrates and I am sure the Minister would prefer we left that issue to one side. Local authorities were more significant polluters than agriculture and were exempt under much of the legislation. That was not correct.
Recently Oireachtas Members had a meeting with the county manager in Kildare. There have been 27,000 separate planning applications in Kildare during the past ten years. That is obviously far more in terms of houses. There were 3,368 applications in 2005, of which 550 were domestic; 250 commercial; 1,000 were one-off and 136 were major residential developments. There is, as the Minister is aware, huge pressure on the planning departments. As there has been a major improvement compared with when I was a member of the local authority the appeal is that it would be provided with sufficient staff and sufficient expertise to deal effectively with these applications.
The increase in housing supply has been a key response to the range of housing needs. At the most recent meeting in Kildare, figures were presented to us by the county management people indicating that 312 houses are on site in the housing capital programme, pre-planning is to start in 2006 for 236 units and pre-planning of 170 is to start in 2007.
There has been progress but I was disappointed to see the figures on social and affordable housing. In this regard, I would have expected Part V of the Act to have kicked in more significantly by this stage. Under the social housing heading there have been only 12 allocations, and under the affordable housing heading there have been only two allocations. These figures are much lower than anybody expected and, consequently, there seems to be something wrong.
The other issue of significance concerns the considerable growth in housing development and the attendant road infrastructure problems. Increasingly, small county roads are being used as access roads to housing estates. Beautiful estates are being built and marvellous roads are constructed to their edges but at the end of these roads one hits what are like craters on the moon because of the building work.
Consider the degree to which local authorities are vigilant about muck on the roads and dust on the roads in summer. If a farmer left mud on the roads after cutting silage or lifting beet, he would soon be told to clean up his act, and rightly so, yet it seems that some builders can do what they like. A ring road was being constructed around Newbridge recently and the local authority was very attentive to its responsibility to keep it in reasonable condition, but the same degree of attention is not evident where there are private builders involved.
This leads on to the issue of enforcement. The worst offenders, who offend repeatedly, seem to get away with their actions, thereby undermining the whole system. Those who are compliant ask why they should comply when Micky Joe or builder X got away without doing so. I was made aware of the really surprising statistic that there were 800 complaints to Kildare County Council for alleged unauthorised development last year. This is a very significant number and, therefore, there needs to be a meaningful way to stop those who do not comply with the guidelines. In a recent case, in which a person erected an unauthorised extra storey on top of a development, the objectors had to go through the whole process with their case. By the time one does this, however, the developers have the blasted building built anyway. They seem to be able to get away with it.
There is an insatiable appetite for water, which is understandable because householders need it, but an ever-increasing volume is being taken from the River Liffey. It has reached the point where it is unsustainable and the river is suffering badly. Many years ago I suggested to the county engineer of Kildare County Council that we could get our water from the Shannon on the basis that we have a way-leave all the way to that river in the form of the canal. I was told at the time that this was not technically possible, but, lo and behold, Général des Eaux produced a report on the Dublin water supply and mentioned my proposal as an option.
Something meaningful will have to be done to find an alternative to the supply from Ballymore Eustace. Measures have been taken to stop the very significant leakages from the antiquated public system. Approximately one third of the water was being lost therefrom. Regardless of the measures being taken, the taking of water from the River Liffey is unsustainable and would not be tolerated in any environmentally aware society.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:
conscious of:
—the Government's failure to live up to its commitment to provide adequate funding for local authorities to make up for abolished local rates;
—the impact of stealth taxes;
—the severe inadequacy of the current system of funding;
—the Government's failure to provide for environment schemes on a local level by not providing adequate funds for sewerage schemes;
—the huge burden on Irish businesses and services created by universal increases in commercial rates and the consequent effects on the competitiveness of Irish businesses;
—the major challenge facing local government in revitalising people's interest and involvement in local democracy;
calls on the Government to:
—fulfil its commitment to provide adequate funding to local authorities since the abolition of rates;
—ensure the future funding of local authorities in order to stem over-dependency on central Government and central Government's control of finance;
—to immediately implement a properly-funded system of local democracy;
—give adequate power to elected representatives on local authorities to take all decisions on day-to-day matters, since they are closest to the citizens; and
—to allow local government to be focused on areas such as housing, sewerage, roads, infrastructure, fire services, preservation of environment and recreational facilities.
The amendment refers to "the Government's failure to provide for environment schemes on a local level by not providing adequate funds for sewerage schemes". Water schemes have not been adequately funded either and the Minister will know more about this when he visits Longford this week.
This lame-duck Government's self-glorification is, at the least, boringly repetitive and, at worst, an indictment of its inability to match its empty words with action.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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The Senator is repetitive.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Local government should and could be the regarded as the bedrock of democracy, but instead it is the Cinderella of our democratic system. It is left short-changed and downtrodden by central government and with very little input into its present or future activities.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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I do not know what the Senator will do if his party ever gets into power.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Bannon, without interruption.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The danger for local government is the perceived and, I fear, very real erosion of its independence and the persistence of the "Dublin knows best" mentality. Senator Dardis shares this mentality although he claims he is from a rural area.
In a democracy, power should be devolved to representatives close to the people, who would address their issues, and those who have power and make decisions should be answerable and accountable to the people. Ireland is the only democracy in the developed world where most local authority powers and functions are delegated to non-elected officials by national Parliament.
The democratic process, as it operates in our system, is remarkably different from that of cities in the US and across Europe, where local decision-making, including plebiscites, is the norm. Despite the aspirations of the Local Government Bill 2000 to improve local democracy by promoting the role of local representatives, what is happening in practice is further eroding their powers. The main aims of the Bill were as follows: to enhance the role of the elected member; support community involvement with local authorities in a more participative local democracy; modernise local government legislation and provide the framework for new financial management systems; and underpin generally the programme of local government renewal. Three years later, those aspirations proved to be mere aspirations, and the Local Government Bill 2003 proposed nothing new to make these aims a reality. The following areas were ignored and sidelined and have been ever since — future funding of local authorities; giving local authorities new powers to lead their communities; giving the authorities new technology to improve services, deliver budgets for the term of the council, calculated on the basis of needs; and improving the internal efficiencies of local authorities to deliver services. None was delivered.
The 1971 Government White Paper on the reform of local government highlights the generally accepted Irish belief in the value of local government as a democratic institution. It states a system of local self-government is one of the essential elements of democracy. Under such a system, local affairs can be settled by local citizens or their representatives, namely, county councillors or town councillors, local services can be locally controlled and local communities can participate in the process of government and exercise the responsibilities of government. Local government exists, therefore, for democratic as well as practical reasons. One should try telling this to the current Government.
I call on the Minister, Deputy Roche, to give adequate power to elected representatives on local authorities, who are closest to the citizens, to take decisions on day-to-day matters. I call on him to fulfil his commitment to provide adequate funding to local authorities, which have been totally underfunded since the abolition of rates. A major challenge that faces local government is to revitalise people's interest and involvement in local democracy. The independence of local authorities would enhance and extend their role within their communities. This should be a Government-driven process, but it is not such at present.
Local authority funding must be equitable, transparent and practical. It is essential that the user-pays principle be implemented fairly in both the business and domestic sectors. In 1997, the Government abolished water charges for domestic users. While charges for the business sector have risen dramatically, the City and County Managers Association says an insatiable public demand exists for more and better services.
Central government contributed 63% of local authorities' current expenditure in 1983, and this fell to 44% by 2004. The figures speak for themselves. Central control of funding is neither adequate nor efficient. The employers' lobby group, IBEC, has called for local charges and rates on business, such as those imposed for waste disposal, to be capped at the rate of inflation and for reforms to be put in place to make local government more efficient.
The inequity of local authority financing is a key issue that needs to be addressed if Ireland is to remain competitive. Hard-pressed local authorities have been forced to impose one stealth tax after another to make up for shortfalls in Government funding. Local authorities throughout the country have had to raise the rent on local authority housing for old age pensioners by up to €14. Senator Ulick Burke highlighted this issue on the Order of Business this morning. The much-maligned taxpayer is suffering as a result of direct taxes which are imposed by the Government and stealth taxes which are driven by the Government. It is grossly unfair that people have had to tolerate at least 30 tax increases at the same time as savage cutbacks in areas like health, education, housing, social welfare, agriculture, FÁS schemes and youth schemes and severe increases in development charges.
Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)
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This goes all the way to St. Luke's.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator's time is up and he should conclude.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I regret that I do not have more time as I could continue until 6 o'clock or 7 o'clock.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator is wasting time. Other Senators wish to speak.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I would be speaking about the reality of what people think about this Government.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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It is time for the Government to fold up and get out because it has let down local democracy.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Is Fine Gael not in control of any local authorities?
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Government has let down the people of this State.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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It is time for the Government to call it a day and get out.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I understand that the Taoiseach has made May available for a general election.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Roche, will highlight the fact that he is running out of time at this stage.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Senator Bannon must hear the same words in his sleep every night.
Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)
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I second the amendment moved by Senator Bannon, who made the case for it well.
Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)
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When we speak about local authority funding, we need to consider the increases in the rates paid by many small businesses. As someone who comes from a small business background, I am aware that the small business sector is not what it used to be. We welcome the increase in competition in the sector. I appeal to local authorities not to see the sector as a easy target by continuing to increase rates. There has been an increase of 6% in rates in my local area. I am worried about insurance, water rates and many other hidden charges. I accept that rates have to be paid, but small businesses will not be able to survive if they continue to increase. Small businesses have been unfairly targeted over the years. I hope there will be a fair reform of the charges structure.
I have a difficulty with the development charges which local authorities are allowed to impose. A charge of over €6,000 is imposed in County Roscommon and charges of up to €12,000 or €14,000 are imposed in some other counties. It seems to me that the moneys which accrue from the charge are used as a slush fund by many local authorities, rather than being spent wisely.
We are not getting value for money from the development charges. The local authority in my home county is trying to ring-fence the moneys from the charge to ensure that the funding which comes from a certain area is returned to that area. It is far too often the case that such funds are spent on new swimming pools or arts centres in county towns, rather than spent more democratically in the areas from which they accrue. Although a development charge of €6,000 was imposed in respect of each of the 500 houses which were built in my home town, the town did not benefit from the funds being spent in the locality. While attempts are being made to bring about change in this regard, more should have been done when development charges were originally introduced to avoid such unfairness.
Much more could be done to bundle some of the many sewerage schemes which are being developed throughout the country. I do not suggest that such an approach would make the process more transparent, but it would make it much quicker. I accept that there is increased demand for sewerage schemes in certain areas because of the construction work taking place there, but I do not think such schemes are being completed fast enough. There seems to be too much red tape and rigmarole, of which we are all guilty. For example, the local Government Deputy or Senator might have to discuss the matter with various interest groups. The process should be much more transparent. If Fine Gael was in power, its representatives would do the same. The nod and wink approach to local sewerage schemes should be brought to an end because it is not right or proper.
I would like to speak about the taking over by local authorities of housing schemes. I was contacted by a developer who built a housing estate some years ago that he might not have finished. I ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to clarify whether he recently announced that local authorities will take over housing schemes which have not been finished after 12 or 14 years. The developer approached me because people living in the housing scheme in question are upset that many walls and sewerage facilities, etc., have not been finished. While the idea I have mentioned is good because it will help to overcome a great deal of hassle, I would like to know whether additional funding will be provided to local authorities. When I approached a local authority in Roscommon to discuss a small housing development, I was told the necessary finance was not available and it was not sure what was happening. If somebody takes action against one in a court of law, one says that one does not know much about it. I ask the Minister to give some further clarification in this regard so that I can sort out an issue in my local area.
Senator Dardis spoke about affordable housing. I am aware that steps are being taken to ensure that more affordable housing is made available, but it does not appear to be very popular in my locality. People are availing of affordable sites and affordable houses are being bought by the local authority under Part V, but there is nothing better for young people than being able to buy affordable housing. They want to own and have pride in something that can be seen as an asset.
We could do much more in respect of affordable housing. People are afraid to get involved in affordable housing schemes. I do not know what we can do to get people more interested because affordable housing is an excellent idea. It seems that people are happier to go directly to developers, even if that involves paying an additional €50,000 or €60,000 for an identical house. I am not sure whether local authorities or the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government are responsible for the low level of take-up of affordable housing schemes.
Senator Dardis rightly stated that the quality and availability of water will be a problem in years to come. Successive Governments have threatened to drain the River Shannon, but to do so to increase the supply of drinking water to the east coast is a novel suggestion. Perhaps Senator Dardis will agree that we could kill two birds with a single stone in this manner.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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We should not talk about birds at this time.
Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)
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I would like to conclude by speaking about planning. We pride ourselves on our ability to hire planners and directors of planning services. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is too often seen to interfere in the autonomy of local councils. We have to ask who watches the watchers. We work closely with planners and directors of planning, who take great pride in their expertise, by participating in pre-planning meetings, etc. The Department is employing people to overrule planners and thereby ignore local knowledge. I accept that we do not always get it right. I ask the Minister to look at this issue. It is not transparent when people in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government overrule the knowledge and the professional decisions of planners and the planning departments of various councils.
Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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I support the motion proposed by my colleagues. I commend Senator Feighan on his very constructive contribution. Senator Bannon was so negative that I thought he wanted to abolish local authorities. I am glad the motion mentions ——
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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This Government has let down local government after all its years in power. Shame on it.
Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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——the €2.94 billion in funding that was provided last year. The local government fund allocation for 2006 was €874.5 million. There was also an increase in the road grant for 2006, with a €24 million increase in County Galway alone and a 7% increase for Ballinasloe Town Council. Today, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs announced an extra €6 million for non-national roads in the CLÁR programme areas, with almost €500,000 for Galway. Spending has been increased in the past few years and I am glad to see that.
Local government has a very important effect on local communities. There are substantial resources given to local authorities to improve local communities. We are all familiar with the traditional role of the local authority, which was to build roads and houses, to keep the streets clean and to provide public lighting. However, the authorities are involved in many other areas now, especially in local government reform and in programmes of local government renewal. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has been very pro-active in promoting that within each local authority.
We often take local authority services for granted. It is only when the street lights are not working or when the water runs dry that we know there are problems. In Galway, we are trying to get water supplies from good local authority sources, as well as providing water for group water schemes. The quality of service is improving.
Senator Dardis pointed out that county managers are now meeting with Oireachtas Members, which is a very positive initiative. When meeting with a county manager, my experience has been to look at issues that are causing problems. Planning is still a problem. Some local authorities have prior notice of preplanning meetings and some are better than others. I have always thought that prior notice was a good way for Members to get information, although others have different views.
Affordable housing should be promoted to a much greater extent. In County Galway, there is a designated team to help those who apply for affordable housing. Another initiative that deserves more recognition is the improvement in lieu of housing scheme, which allows mainly younger people to have repairs carried out to their house. Most of the schemes are for the elderly or for those with disability and are delivered either through the health board or through the local authority.
There is a problem with housing estates not being finished and we have stressed this with our manager. Another related issue is when amenity areas are not provided. Estates are being built and there is increased funding for schools, child care units and shopping areas, but the amenity areas are often forgotten. Senator Feighan spoke about levies and some of the funds from these levies should be provided towards the community sports field. We need to have such facilities provided close to where we are living. For example, I have been working closely with a soccer club for the last few months, trying to get a particular sports field for them. The people who ran the club finally decided to use their own field, but they will not get planning permission to develop a stand or lighting because it is a bit too far from the town. Developers have a role to play in the development of such amenities and I would like to see local authorities being more pro-active as well.
I support the second part of the motion regarding the provision of water services investment programmes. A total of €68 million has been provided to County Galway for schemes to start in 2006, while €256 million will be provided next year. The Minister should look at the issue surrounding small sewerage schemes. Senator Feighan made a point on bundling and it is a good idea to have schemes bundled together. The Minister has undertaken a new initiative, where schemes under €5 million can be started without reference to the Department.
However, if the schemes are bundled together, they can go over that amount. Those involved in water schemes have been asking me if they could get out of the bundle and go back to stand-alone schemes that would cost less than €5 million. Some of the bundled schemes have gone so far that it will be difficult to go back and start again as a stand-alone scheme. Can the Minister address that problem? While I welcome what he did for schemes that cost less than €5 million, this initiative has caused a particular problem.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Senator is coming around to agree with the amendment to the motion. Fair play to him.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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The question is whether Senator Bannon agrees with the motion.
Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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The objectives of the design build operate schemes may not be fully understood by every local authority. Many small schemes could now start under the Minister's initiative. However, I see problems if these schemes are part of a bundle and cost more than €5 million. We can surely proceed with either the treatment section or the collection system without having to wait for the other to proceed. There are schemes in Galway from Dunmore and Kilkerrin in north Galway out to Carna and Carraroe in west Galway. There are difficulties in trying to have a DBO scheme in that bundle.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Government will leave those schemes in the bundle.
Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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I do not like the negative comments from the Opposition. We should be try to be positive and resolve the programme for 2006.
Joanna Tuffy (Labour)
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The relationship between the Seanad and local authorities has changed since the abolition of the dual mandate. Many of us were elected to this House as county councillors, although that changed a few years ago. However, we had a unique link with local government and most of us are still elected by county councillors. I welcome the decision by the Progressive Democrats to table this motion on Private Members' business, as it is an issue that is not raised enough in the House. The Seanad needs to look at some kind of structured way of raising issues about local government.
Some time ago the Leader of the House organised a series of sittings dealing with European issues and these were addressed by Members of the European Parliament. I am not saying we should do that but we should keep up the link we have with local government and show that it is important to us as parliamentarians. Most Members started in politics as local county councillors. Perhaps the Minister might have some proposals in that regard.
Some councils have not kept up good communications with Members of the Oireachtas. My local council is not too bad. It held a meeting for us after I had contacted it a few times but it took a year to hold that meeting. There were follow up meetings last year and this year at which we were briefed by the council, so communication is relatively good. The council has a good website and we can access the meeting agendas and so forth. However, some local authorities are not as good. The Minister should pursue this and find out how local authorities are communicating with Members of the Oireachtas, if it is working and whether there is consistency throughout the country, as there should be.
I opposed waste charges but now that they are in place, some comments should be made. There should be a cap on increases in bin charges. This could be imposed in line with a mechanism such as the inflation rate or the consumer price index. Sometimes there are huge increases in charges. My local council has not increased the waste charges in the last couple of years but other councils have. There is huge inconsistency in the level of waste charges from county to county. Some councils have waivers while some do not. Some councils have privatised the services, others have not.
Some councils operate a pay-per-lift policy while others operate a pay-per-lift as well as a fixed charge. The fixed charge can be in the region of €200. I do not agree with this charge. There should be consistency in waste charges, caps on increases and a national waiver system. However, the fixed charge contradicts the approach we are supposed to apply, that is, the polluter pays principle. A spokesperson for the EU Commissioner for the environment spoke to the Forum on Europe a couple of years ago and he said a fixed charge is the worst type of charge from an environmental point of view. However, many councils operate fixed charges along with the pay-per-lift charge. The Minister should try to phase out these fixed charges while ensuring the pay-per-lift charges are fair.
There is also a need for the Government to provide a national recycling infrastructure. South Dublin County Council exports most of the waste collected in the green bins. There is no way to monitor what happens to that waste after export. I understand much of it is exported to Asian countries but I do not know what happens to it. Does the Minister know? Does he monitor where this waste goes? This is a costly way of dealing with the waste. It should be used in this country. If it is sustainable to recycle waste, we should be able to do it. We should have a recycling industry, re-introduce the recycling of glass and establish other industries involved in recycling waste. The Government must make the capital investment in that type of infrastructure.
The Government has provided funding for play facilities to be drawn down by local authorities. It is part of the national play policy and the funding comes through the National Children's Office. I welcome that Government initiative. The councils are drawing down the funding but my local council would not wish to spend any money on play facilities if it could get away with it. Before that money was available, the council was not doing anything. It is doing something now but what it does is minimalist. It does not wish to establish new facilities because it would have to maintain them.
The councils are drawing down that money but they are not implementing the plans as they should. Under the national play policy they are supposed to draw up a county play plan and a county play policy, and the money is to be spent in a structured way within that. However, they are not doing that. My local council does not have a county play officer, as it should have. The money should be provided as it is important to provide more play facilities but the Minister should ensure that local authorities embrace the policy enthusiastically and spend the money in a structured and well-planned way. In this way the authorities will realise that they are obliged to provide facilities for children and that it is an important part of their work.
It is important, too, that the local authorities realise their role in preventing crime. I attended a meeting on crime in my constituency this week. The main issues were anti-social behaviour and the lack of gardaí on the beat. However, people also said that the councils must do their job in terms of maintaining areas as this is intrinsically linked to crime prevention. This fits in with modern thinking on this issue.
I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. This year the committee produced a report on community policing, which embraced what may be termed the "broken window" theory of policing. My local council had a policy of not fixing tenants' broken windows but if a broken window in a building is not dealt with by a local authority, as is often the case, that can lead to other anti-social behaviour in the area. It starts a downward spiral because other things happen as a result. Youths start hanging around the area and graffiti is painted on the building, which would not happen where the window was unbroken and the area was tidy. Then drug pushers start to hang around the area. If a council does not do its job in terms of fixing windows in its premises and tidying wasteland, the theory is that it is contributing to crime. It is a credible theory and has been taken on board by, for example, the Patton commission in the North. The local authorities have a role in that regard and the Minister should take it up with them.
The Minister should also ask councils to put more emphasis on providing housing for the elderly. This is linked to the issue of long-term care for the elderly. If there was more sheltered housing for the elderly, there would be less need for nursing homes. It is also a better way of dealing with long-term provision for the elderly. This is done in other countries, for example, the UK has far greater provision of housing and different housing options for the elderly. More must also be done for single men on housing waiting lists because they are greatly discriminated against, particularly separated men.
6:00 pm
Cyprian Brady (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Progressive Democrats' motion, with which I fully agree. My local authority experience is with Dublin City Council, formerly Dublin Corporation. The investment that has taken place in recent years has made a great improvement in the council. The changes have been dramatic. I have seen at first hand the good interaction between the employees and the communities throughout the city. This is due to rationalisation of the service and investment in staff, technology and equipment.
Dublin city now has a community-based service. The key to that change was the introduction of regional offices and officers. The current city manager, John Fitzgerald, should be congratulated for initiating that process. It has proved a great success. Previously, there was an impression that Dublin Corporation resided in its ivory tower in the civic offices. Councillors will remember queuing for hours in the housing section. It was almost impossible to get an official to come to the phone, let alone get to meet one.
That has all changed. Every day one can see officials out in the community interacting with residents, not necessarily local authority residents but residents in general. They become involved in local committees, attend residents' meetings and get to know local residents, children, teachers, gardaí and schools. They have a first-hand knowledge of what is happening on the ground, which is a major change. For a long time, it was almost impossible to get access to officials or to get them to attend an on-site meeting. That has changed, partly as a result of investment.
It is my experience that most local authorities have a pool of experienced, highly-skilled professional staff, particularly in the area of strategic planning. Over time they have built up a knowledge of strategic planning, particularly with regard to housing. The difference now is that there is consultation with local people, professionals and other agencies. Throughout the north inner city, the council has delivered first-class modern developments. Two that spring to mind are Smithfield, where the civic space is one of the best in Europe, and O'Connell Street, which is now halfway through the second phase of development, which will stretch as far as the Ambassador cinema. It is a huge investment. The first phase of the O'Connell Street project cost €3.26 million, with a further €390,000 for lighting. Nobody can argue it has not improved O'Connell Street. It is an example of the investment that has taken place.
There are plans for further investment. Public-private partnership arrangements are in place with regard to some of the most deprived areas. For example, O'Devaney Gardens will see a major €200 million public-private partnership investment to replace decrepit 1960s flat complexes with own-door, modern housing, with all necessary facilities, including community facilities. This highlights the strategic planning undertaken by local authorities throughout the country.
Another prime example is Fatima Mansions. For many years, Fatima Mansions was a no-go area but it is changing rapidly due to co-operation between the local authority, private developers and the community. This is being achieved through a process of consultation with the people as to their needs and wants.
Throughout the city, award-winning modern housing developments with top-class facilities where people can live in comfort and security are being built. I particularly commend Dublin City Council on the high quality of its new senior citizens complexes, which were developed through a combination of investment and planning. These complexes replace the bedsit units that existed for many years, which had one room for sleeping, eating and everything else. That is changing. For example, Rowan Hamilton Court in Cabra and Clareville Court in Glasnevin have state-of-the-art facilities, including on-site health services and CCTV. This is a sign of the investment made and residents are taking advantage of the benefits.
Improvements are taking place not only in housing but also with regard to state-of-the-art sports complexes, playgrounds and arts projects. Playgrounds are a great example of joined-up government. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is making investments under the RAPID programme and Dublin City Council is working hand-in-hand with the Department in designing, providing sites for and maintaining playgrounds. Mountjoy Square playground is a prime example. It is a major improvement to what was a no-go area for many people.
The increased resources have resulted in significant improvements but further improvements are required. For example, traffic management is probably the biggest issue in Dublin city at present. Ten to 12 years ago when the Dublin transportation initiative began, which resulted in the establishment of the Dublin Transportation Office, policy decisions were made which led to the exclusion of as much traffic as possible from the city centre. That policy has not worked. We should concentrate on achieving the fastest possible throughput of city traffic. City traffic is blocked as a result of sheer volume and is spreading further and further into the suburbs. No attempt is made to facilitate the passage of cars through the city as quickly as possible, with the result that cars are idling in traffic for long periods, with all the consequences for emissions, safety, stress on drivers and the economy. This issue must be examined.
As the motion states, the investment at local authority level has been significant — there is a 7% increase in investment for this year compared with last year. Particularly in the inner city of Dublin, the investment has made a very significant difference which is visible for all to see.
David Norris (Independent)
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This is the usual Wednesday evening event — a "tis-tisn't" row between the principal political parties in which I do not propose to indulge.
David Norris (Independent)
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I recognise the important role played by local authorities in our democracy and the fine work that is sometimes done. However, I have always had an ambiguous relationship with county councils. Perhaps 15 years ago I was invited to address the General Council of County Councils in Killarney. I gave the members a bit of a jolt with regard to section 4 planning permissions, which were in operation at the time. I was howled down by most of the attendance. I was asked "What part of England do you come from, sonny?" and that kind of stuff.
David Norris (Independent)
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I got a good hearing from a minority of the attendance who were prepared to take controversy on the chin. We had a good time and an interesting exchange. At that time, I thought the only problem was section 4 planning permissions. I would count as a negative the absurd deference paid to county councils in this House in particular, though not so much in the Dáil.
I do not want to tread too far into the subject of the tribunals but it would be wrong of me not to refer to them. There has been a series of scandals in which members of local authorities and county councils were involved, including Members of the Oireachtas. This is shameful. It has brought the question of local government into focus and into a kind of contempt in the minds of the general population because the impression is given that people are abroad who, in the words of James Joyce, not only were prepared to sell their country for thruppence but would get down on their knees and thank the almighty Christ they had a country to sell. That is a pity.
I am not making any individual accusations or claims but a general atmosphere has been exposed, largely by the operations of the former Minister, Mr. Michael Smith, and his colleague, who offered money for information, which led to the establishment of the tribunals. That must be recognised. I do not for a minute believe this problem exists only in Dublin, although it may be on a smaller scale elsewhere. I hope it is rooted out, which should be the first aim. We should have respect for the work that it has done, but we should make sure it has done it properly, appropriately and honestly, without any suggestion of malpractice, which is certainly in people's minds. It is an important part of our democracy, as it touches people's lives in areas such as planning, housing and the provision of basic services. We are entitled to a higher standard than we have had. I say this while honouring the contribution made by many persons of integrity at local level. They have been let down, however.
I support the work and development of local authorities in its appropriate place, which is not interfering in the work of the Oireachtas. Members of local authorities can talk to Members and brief them, but in recent weeks such authorities have been used as an excuse or figleaf for the subversion of the work of this House with regard to the cancellation of the proposed committee to inquire into Shannon Airport. This is utterly wrong. Perhaps this was the real reason, but it may well have been the Government using local authorities as a cat's paw and an excuse.
The necessity for the Government to complete the work started when it decoupled part of the relationship between the Oireachtas and local authorities, by stopping double jobbing, has been highlighted. This was the nauseous practice of people being both Members of the Oireachtas and members of local authorities. This was the reason, we were told, we could never meet on a Monday. The Oireachtas could not meet on certain days of the week, not because of a matter of national importance, but because local councils were meeting. This was inappropriate and wrong.
We tend to get laughable lectures regarding democracy and it is assumed and often stated that the university seats in the Seanad are undemocratic. They are the only democratic element in this House. These seats at least have real constituencies. As originally designed it was intended that all Seanad seats should be voted upon, and there were nominating bodies. These nominating bodies were eventually neutered, by having the power of voting removed from their ordinary membership. The overwhelming bulk of my colleagues, most of whom are excellent politicians, are still spancelled by an unhealthy, unrealistic, nonsensical and undemocratic method of election involving constituencies of fewer than 1,000 members. An overwhelming number of these are local councillors.
This is wrong and vitiates the entire process. I call on the Minister to look again at this. My colleagues and friends in this Chamber would not have the slightest difficulty getting elected on a proper, wider mandate. It would free them from the absurd deference which is paid to local authorities.
We hear much waffle about carnage on the roads and how we should have respect for speed limits. Why should anybody have respect for a system that is totally chaotic and inconsistent? Everybody knows this. There is a chaotic system of speed limits on the country's roads because the determination of these limits is left exclusively in the hands of local authorities. It should be a national issue. Road deaths are a national scandal and should not be left in the hands of local authorities.
The same should be true with regard to speed bumps. Why are these not nationally regulated? Some, in posh areas, are nice undulations, which would hardly cause a hair to rise on that back of one's head. Others are like the Cliffs of Moher, and these are structurally dangerous to a car driven at 10 km/h. If the Minister wants respect from road users, there should be consistency on issues such as speed limits and speed bumps. It should be logical to suggest that any ordinary decent citizen should be able to drive their car up to the permitted maximum speed. That takes into account a car being driven over a speed bump.
I mentioned this issue to a person, stating that these bumps are meant to deter joyriders. The person laughed, saying that in her area the bumps only encourage joyriders as they get a better bang from hitting them. They destroy the cars and jump out of them. We should have some really consistent and high standards in our local authorities. They are an important part of our Government. We have not yet reached those standards, and the Minister could take action on the matter.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Senator Norris normally takes the prize for being colourful in this House but tonight this is not so. Senator Bannon takes the prize tonight because he is affected by a virulent form of political CJD.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I do not respect this Minister; he told untruths to me with regard to the nitrates directive on 14 December 2005.
David Norris (Independent)
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There is no love lost between you lot.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister told untruths on that night and I will not allow him to get away with untruths here tonight.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I can understand Senator Bannon's discomfiture because he probably anticipates some of the points I will make.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister misinformed this House on 14 December last with regard to the nitrates directive.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister misrepresented himself. He told untruths by stating he had the support of the farmers.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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We will hear the Minister without interruption.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Senator Bannon is as usual displaying why he is unfit to be either in this or any other House. That is a matter for an electorate to decide.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister is wrong. He lied to the farmers of this country——
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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——he told untruths to the farmers of this country.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I have never told an untruth to anybody in my life.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am not prepared to stand here and be lectured by an idiot.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Untruths were told with regard to the nitrates directive.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I inform the Minister that to call anybody an "idiot" is to use very unparliamentary language and I ask him to withdraw the remark.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is unparliamentary. To call me a liar is unfair also.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I will deal with it. I will withdraw the remark if the Leas-Chathaoirleach so wishes.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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On a point of order, is it in order for the Minister to refer to a Member as being unfit to serve given that parliamentary party colleagues of the Minister have displayed extraordinarily flexible memories about donations of large sums of money to assist decision making on planning? They are apparently fit to be Members of the Oireachtas.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It cannot be a point of order coming from a man led by a party——
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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I will not stand for that. Deputy Rabbitte behaved impeccably. If he had not done what he had done, this crowd would be branding him with all types of accusations.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure he did; I am sorry.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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He took the money and sent it back so he could have a record because they could perjure themselves in the tribunal and blacken his name.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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That is not a point of order. I ask the Minister to withdraw his previous remark.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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He knows it too well. If the Minister does not withdraw the remark now, I will be suspended from this House.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I certainly do. I do not know what remark I am withdrawing at this stage.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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He should withdraw all imputations about my party leader or I will be suspended from this House.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I said nothing about the Senator's party leader.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator did not even listen to what I said.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Senators Bannon and Ryan wish to disrupt this debate.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I have asked the Minister to withdraw what he stated in an unparliamentary fashion.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister withdrawn the remark?
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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I will check the Official Report tomorrow. If there is a reference to my party leader, there will be enormous problems.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Would Senator Bannon like to withdraw his suggestion that I lied?
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The record of the House will show what the Senator stated. We will deal with that later.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister's comment been withdrawn through the Chair?
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister withdrawn the comment?
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Minister has already withdrawn what he said; allow him to continue without interruption.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I have been in this House and listened with great respect to its Members. I have never heard such nonsense as in the last hour, in particular from Senator Bannon. He wrung his hands about the demise of local government. I have a small point of history. The first time local government was seriously culled in this country was in 1924. It was a long time ago and there has been a long history of Senator Bannon's party and its predecessors culling local government. Senator Bannon also discussed rates, and the problems incurred when the domestic rate was abolished. Senator Bannon should check the facts. The inter-party Government of 1976 made the decision to abolish domestic rates, which all political parties followed. Every now and again it is a good thing to introduce facts into the debate.
The Senator also showed a degree of confusion when he said the Government should do something about local charges. Local authorities are democratically-elected bodies. The level of their charges, particularly development contributions and rates, are struck every year by their elected representatives, as he and everybody else in this House knows. Senator Bannon also knows the results of the 2004 elections and that his own party and its coalition partners have a substantial majority in a number of local authorities. That is an unfortunate fact Senator Bannon chose to overlook when he decided to trot out the IBEC line about increases in rates.
Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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No wonder we have a majority, Minister.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Senator Cummins was not in the House for the debate.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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We have a filibuster to ensure the truth is not told.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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The Minister should get down off his high horse.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Maybe the Senators opposite want to engage in pantomime. Senator Bannon also talked about the money that is allocated to local authorities. I will remind the House of a couple of things. In 1997 the local government fund contributed €339 million to local authorities through rate support grant and the equalisation fund. This year the figure was €875 million, which even by Senator Bannon's warped view of economics is a significant increase.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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In 1987, central government contributed 64%. Now the figure is less than 30%.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Senator Bannon had his chance to speak.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In 1997 the equalisation and rate support grant from Senator Bannon's party in Government was €339 million. This year the outset allocation was €875 million. Other statistics bear out what I am saying. In 1997 the rural water scheme received €25 million compared with an outset figure this year of €119 million. Even allowing for Senator Bannon's rather peculiar approach to economics that is a significant increase.
I will give the Senator and the House a final figure. In 1994 the total contribution from central government to non-national roads, which are important for interconnectivity across the country, was €139 million, and in 1997 had gone up to €226 million. Senator Bannon would be the first to agree that the €558 million allocated this year is significantly better than either of those contributions. They are facts and if he wants to deal with other facts I will do so.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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This is a welcome debate because it allows us to deal with the reality of local government as opposed to mythology. Local government plays an important part in the life of the nation and is an integral part of the democratic process. Accordingly, I fundamentally disagree with some of the comments made by my friend and colleague, Senator Norris. His view of local government is somewhat distorted. It has a representational and operational role so statements that it has to introduce charges are pure political nonsense. It is time we grew up as politicians and accepted that services have to be paid for. For good or evil all parties made a decision in the late 1970s to abolish domestic rates. If Senator Bannon checks his facts he will find that the first decision in that regard was made in September 1976. We can all wring our hands but we must be truthful.
Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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The Minister should be truthful about 1977.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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Nobody trusts the Minister. He should go and see what people endured during the summer when the water was off.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The truth hurts and Senator Bannon should deal with facts rather than mythology. Since the early 1990s successive Administrations have taken steps to modernise our local government system. We are beginning to see a local government system which shows signs of the kind of administrative system we need. The modernisation agenda of the past few years has given constitutional recognition to local government for the first time, which we should welcome.
We have introduced the single electoral mandate for local government which underlines the unique representational role of the elected member at local level. Some Members of this and the other House had different views on that measure but it has been introduced. We have also provided significantly more resources than at any time in the history of the State. The combined spend, current and capital, will be some €9 billion.
Management structures have also been strengthened. The range of matters over which councillors have direct influence is being extended to include river basin management plans and joint policing committees. As I have already indicated on Second Stage of the water services Bill 2003, I propose to bring forward a Government amendment to designate water services a policy issue for councils to decide. Elected members have a new role outlined in the strategic infrastructure Bill 2006, which I published last week, if Members opposite care to read it.
Local government's sphere of influence has also been widened through the county and city development boards. These boards have been established under the leadership of local government, bringing together all the relevant economic, social and community agencies. The policy-making role of local authorities has been enhanced with sectoral interests and community representatives supporting councillor input through the strategic policy committees. A value for money and efficiency agenda has been rolled out in local authorities and is the most advanced in public administration in Ireland. The activities of local authorities are increasingly being guided by a customer focus and the process will be widened and deepened. Local government must have a strong customer or client focus. A range of financial, training and other practical supports has been provided for local authorities to facilitate their effective participation in the modern local government process. To address the specific concerns of Senator Norris, a comprehensive ethics framework has applied since the beginning of 2003, placing a duty on every member and employee to maintain proper standards.
Linked to the phenomenal growth in economic activity over the last decade, there have been significant improvements by local authorities. For example, they determined some 76,000 planning decisions in 2005, reflecting a phenomenal increase in local government throughput in the past decade. Total housing completions in 2005 were at the record level of just over 81,000, significantly higher than when Senator Bannon's party was in power. The present output is 20 per 1,000 population, which is four times the EU average. Without a good and efficient local government system that would not be possible.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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How many are on the housing list today?
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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On the environment front, local authorities are also making considerable progress. For example, in the period 2000-04, they achieved increased waste water capacity over seven times greater than in the whole of the previous national development plan period. The number of bring bank facilities increased from 850 in 1998 to 1,929 last year, and there were significant improvements in output across a whole range of activities.
In 2006 the total local government expenditure, current and capital, will for the first time touch the €9 billion mark. Senator Bannon failed to mention how little his party gave to local authorities while it was in power. I remind the Senator that the decision on domestic rates, which we can either regret or celebrate, was not made by one party. It was made by his party in Government in 1976 and was repeated by my party in 1977.
Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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The Minister should get it right. His party abolished it totally.
Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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If the Minister wants to talk facts he should get his facts right.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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By making that point the Senator must be arguing in favour of reintroducing domestic rates, which the electorate would be very interested to hear.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister is the greatest twister ever to enter this House.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Minister without interruption, please.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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He even tried to twist what Teagasc said.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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He made a bags of the nitrates directive.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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We would not expect any logic from Senator Bannon but we might seek some from his party colleagues.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister let down the farmers of this country on the nitrates directive and that is what he is sore about.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Allow the Minister to continue without interruption.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I would be prepared to debate that at any time with Senator Bannon in order to illustrate that his behaviour is illogical, unfocused, unknowledgeable and runs counter to farmers' interests.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The nitrates directive is unworkable and unacceptable to Irish farmers. The Minister knows that well. He made a mess of it.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Senator Bannon entered the House with one objective in mind, namely, to filibuster on this issue. I am prepared to come here at any time to debate this in a logical and civilised way. However, I am not prepared to be heckled by Senator Bannon and will deal in due course with the series of untrue statements he made.
Local authority programmes have benefited substantially from transfers of capital funds from the Exchequer and the establishment of the local government fund under the Local Government Act 1998 provided for a buoyant source of finance. The fund, into which the proceeds of motor tax and an increasing Exchequer contribution are paid, now accounts for some 30% of current expenditure by local authorities and enables me to channel significant funding annually to local authorities by way of general purpose grants. General purpose grant allocations from the fund increased from €236 million in 1994 to €339 million in 1997 and to €875 million in 2006.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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The Minister might as well tell us what it was in 1980.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am merely reminding the Opposition of the moneys spent when its parties were in power.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I remind the Senator that 1997 is not that far in the past. The figure for 2006 is far in excess of the rate of inflation and the Government's year-on-year increase in funds allocated to local authorities has been far ahead of the Opposition's when it controlled the public purse.
In my meeting today with the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, I pointed out that commercial rates increased by an average of 4.5% in 2006. This compares favourably with the 12% average increase which businesses in Northern Ireland are facing this year. In addition to general purpose grants, my Department and others give grants to local authorities for specific purposes, including the improvement and maintenance of non-national roads. Such specific grants provide some 23% of local authorities' current funding needs. It is a fact that the proportion of local government budget which is funded directly from the Exchequer has increased in excess of rates. However, Senator Bannon does not like to deal in facts but prefers mythology, bullying and shouting. The reality is that logic, which is alien to the Senator, will show there has been an increase.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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Why did the Minister personalise the matter? He is using bully boy tactics.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Senator Finucane was not here when Senator Bannon started shouting.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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I was watching on the monitor and know what the Minister said. He made some terrible assertions.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The overall contribution made by my Department in supporting the local government system should be acknowledged. Of the €3.35 billion available to my Department in 2005, approximately €2.94 billion was transferred to local authorities. That is as it should be because local authorities must be funded on a structured basis. A reform which illustrates the way in which local authorities are rising to the challenge is the implementation of local government financial management systems and there are further significant improvements in other areas.
The essence of local government is its capacity to address local needs and circumstances. A well functioning local government system should be expected to reflect the diverse interests of local communities. This has been achieved through, for example, local social partnership structures and strategic policy committees, SPCs, which have introduced a modernisation programme for local government. Traditionally, local policy was brought forward by management and submitted to the council for endorsement but SPCs are seen as a way of enhancing local policy formulation whereby elected members and representatives of sectoral interests can bring forward initiatives. It is important that SPCs deliver on their full potential and, against this background, the IPA reviewed its operations in 2003 at my predecessor's request. The findings of that review, which centred on the key roles of the chairs and directors of service, are currently being implemented. Again, this demonstrates that local government can change to meet the demands of a dynamic society.
County and city development boards, CDBs, led by local government, have also been established in each county and city. These further co-ordinate delivery of all public services at local level by bringing together all the local players including public sector agencies, social partners, local government and local development bodies. Therefore, when we discuss local government, we should celebrate its success for democracy.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister would not say that if he had been in Longford over the summer, when the water was turned off in every house because the funding was inadequate. Let the town install a proper water supply system.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I will address the matter of water presently. The blueprint for this co-operation, the CDB strategy for the economic, social and cultural development of each county and city, represents a major improvement and has operated with success on the ground.
The issue of social inclusion is related to community development. Practical measures have been taken to ensure that community consultation is not a token exercise. A community and voluntary forum was established in each city and county to facilitate a structured input into the business of local authorities, the success of which indicates the flexibility of the Irish model of local government.
The motion before us makes specific reference to the Water Services Investment Programme for 2005 to 2007. The Government has invested significant resources into the water services sector in recent times and this is set to continue. Record levels of funding have been provided for new and upgraded water and waste water infrastructure under the current national development plan. The programme, which I published last December, contains 899 individual schemes with a total value of €5.1 billion. The schedule of scheme starts for this year and for 2007 is the most ambitious ever.
The additional capacity produced by successive water services investment programmes has made a direct and substantial contribution to strengthening economic performance by facilitating industrial and residential development. Among the benefits arising from this investment is a compliance rate of over 90% with the stringent standards of the EU urban waste water treatment directive and all remaining schemes needed to achieve full compliance with the requirements of the directive are included in the programme. There has been a reduction of some 45,000 tonnes per annum in the pollutant load to our rivers, lakes and sea waters from municipal treatment systems and the additional waste water treatment capacity generated is sufficient to service a population of more than 3 million. These figures demonstrate the amount of benefit brought by local authorities with the funds provided by the Government.
Given the programme's pivotal role in supporting economic and social development, it is essential that the most efficient procedures are in place to ensure that water services infrastructure provision can continue to anticipate and respond effectively to demand for new or improved services. Against that background, I recently introduced new administrative procedures to streamline the advancement of individual water and sewerage schemes.
I acknowledge the comments made by Members of both Houses on the need for less bureaucracy and have introduced new procedures drawn up in consultation with local authorities under which individual schemes with a value of less than €5 million may, following preliminary approval by my Department, proceed to construction without further reference to the Department.
This reduces from four to two the number of stages in project design and development and should speed up delivery, particularly in smaller schemes.
Senator Kitt mentioned the bundling of some schemes. Bundling is determined in the schemes as they come up and I have told local authorities that if it is efficient to de-bundle or re-bundle schemes, they should do that. I want to see these schemes delivered on time and in the most cost effective way. I am confident that devolving greater responsibilities to the local authorities and streamlining the administrative process will, as well as strengthening the local government system and providing the resources, lead to remarkable delivery on the water services investment programme.
Shared service provision is another area being dealt with by IBEC and other commercial interest groups and it has been promoted in discussions I have had with the chambers of commerce. The Government acknowledges that sharing services locally or on a regional basis can produce economies of scale and offer better quality service. A significant level of co-operation exists between local authorities at town, county and regional levels and this approach should be enhanced and rolled out. Local authorities work closely together on the production of intercounty planning strategies and a range of other issues. A key objective of the local government reform programme has been the delivery of co-ordinated and integrated services for local authorities. There is no doubt that bringing together regional services leads to greater efficiency.
While local authorities have implemented great changes in recent years, much remains to be done. Local authorities have not neglected value for money in the past but there have been changes in the local government accounting system that will lead to greater value for money in the future. I intend to build on the progress made and to ensure that the value for money agenda continues to be at centre stage in all local authority activities and business. For example, the Department has begun work on the development of a common costing system for the sector to provide improved management information on the cost of delivering individual services. By doing this, the taxpayer, the business community, the householder and the local authority member will have a better basis for making comparisons and knowing if an individual local authority is good, bad or indifferent. An initiative that will be of particular interest to Seanad Members will be rolled out over the next few weeks to make more information available to councillors and to the public about the financial status of local authorities. When I spoke to council members late last year, many of them did not know how much money had been collected in development contributions. Those figures will be made available.
I will shortly publish the independent report on local government financing, commissioned by the Department during 2004, and will be pursuing with local authorities the implementation of appropriate recommendations to achieve further efficiencies in the sector, including greater sharing of services.
Serving the customer better is a key theme on which local government is delivering. I have mentioned only one area, namely, on-line motor tax. There has been a huge uptake of this immensely efficient and cost effective measure. It delivers savings to local authorities and means people do not have to queue for hours to re-tax their cars. That model can be rolled out elsewhere.
Local government's continuing commitment to customer service was further illustrated by the publication last year by the Local Government Management Services Board of the first report on local authority service indicators. These are being worked on now for the year ahead — we will publish them later in the year and I will welcome a debate in this House on them. Last year they were published for the first time, they were novel, but they gave an objective basis for making comparisons between the performances of local authorities. It is important for the credibility of the local government system that the service indicator initiative is subject to appropriate quality assurance.
It is important to record the Government's appreciation of the significant contribution which local government has made to the economic and social development of Ireland over the past decade. This has been facilitated by the substantial resources which the Government has devoted to local government and the change programme which continues to be rolled out in partnership with it. I am satisfied that the structures, finances, policies and programmes are in place to ensure that local government continues to successfully meet the challenges it faces and to deliver the customer-oriented local service we all want to see.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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On planning, the Taoiseach said in Sligo that guidelines would be more amenable for people building in rural areas. This was followed by statements from the previous Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, and by the Minister himself. The situation on the ground has become more difficult since those statements were made. All public representatives are regularly contacted by people pointing out difficulties caused by planners and inconsistencies in planning. The area should be debated in this House because it is becoming more difficult.
I want to nail the lie that the Taoiseach, the previous Minister and the Minister did something for rural Ireland in this area. The situation has become worse and that is a fact. I can bring 28 councillors from Limerick County Council to the Oireachtas who will verify the situation. The Government claims 1997 as the magical year in which everything started but the Celtic tiger has existed since 1996.
There is concern in many communities about sewerage schemes, the most vital component in rural locations. They decide how many people can live in the area and have an impact on schools and other facilities. County Limerick has had two small rural schemes in the last eight years — Fethermore and Croagh. The Minister said recently he was relaxing the protocol necessary for permission to build a sewerage scheme but he mentioned that it had to cost less than €5 million. That is contradicted, however, by the changed status of most of the sewerage schemes in the county because they have been bundled together and, by doing so on an ad hoc basis, consultants were needed to verify extra information. It goes on forever.
I have raised this issue repeatedly, particularly with the Minister of State at the Department, Deputy Noel Ahern, pointing out where various sewerage schemes had become stuck in a logjam. On the Adjournment on Thursday of last week, I raised the issue of Dromcollogher. I made further inquiries of the council and the Department and found it is bundled with Bruff, Hospital and Pallasgreen in the other extreme of the county and it will not take place for many years.
In many cases the impediment is that it is not possible for private builders to develop a scheme of this nature under public-private partnership because of the finances involved. There are many other impediments — a logjam has developed — and while the Minister may point to a success story, this case is an indictment of him. While funding may be in train for the future, the timeframe is too long and many local communities are disappointed.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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I understand the reason for the Minister's outbursts given that his colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, has decided he will not allow an incinerator to be built in Ringsend in his Dublin constituency.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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That decision will be made by the planners, not the Minister.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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Furthermore, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, has stated that the replacement of the Cois Fharraige road from Barna to Rossaveal will not extend beyond the two villages despite the fact the original plan proposed that it would continue as far as Screeb. Will the Minister respond definitively on these two matters? If his colleagues are exercising responsibilities held by him and the National Roads Authority, I can fully understand the reason he is upset this evening.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The first matter will be decided by planners.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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We would appreciate if the Minister would tell his colleague.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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To be fair to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, he made the same point.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Government has made many statements on the need for water quality. I do not understand the reason the Minister will not take responsibility for the unacceptable failure to provide a sewerage system in Kinvara, County Galway, where 70,000 gallons of raw sewage are pumped into the bay each day. The Government has not responded to the problem. If the Minister is responding to his colleagues on the other side of the House, I would like to hear his response.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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The matter will be discussed on the Adjournment after this debate.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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The matter has been raised on the Adjournment on a number of occasions. If the Government is concerned about it, let it respond quickly and positively.
How can recent rent increases for tenants of Galway County Council be justified? Pensioners who received an increase of €14 must pay €11 to the local authority in increased rent.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Did the council decide the rent increases?
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator asked me a question.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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I ask the Minister to respond, perhaps in writing, in his own time. In another case, a person paying a weekly rent of €40.30 received a new weekly rent demand of €71.30 last Friday. We were told the increases were necessary because rents have not increased for years. That is not the fault of tenants. Increases of this kind are excessive and cannot be tolerated.
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Senator to provide me with details.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Minister must urgently investigate the exorbitant service charges imposed by some councils in the area of planning.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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I ask the Cathaoirleach to extend the debate for a short period in light of some Senators exceeding their time.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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According to Standing Orders, Private Members' business shall be taken for two hours. I have already ruled that Senator Ross cannot be accommodated.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to share time with Senator Leyden. I support the motion. No Administration in the history of the State has done more for local government reform and funding than the coalition in power since 1997.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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As I have only two minutes speaking time, I ask Opposition Senators not to heckle. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, deserves particular tribute for being on top of his brief.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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As I noted, his ministerial colleagues are undermining him.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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Having said that, I wish to raise a number of issues which Opposition Senators should not confuse with support for the amendment. On the issue of local government funding, before selective amnesia affects us all the abolition of domestic rates featured in every manifesto preceding the general election in question. One wonders whether this was a good idea at the time and one can speculate about the potential size of the local authority budget for Sligo Corporation if it operated under the same conditions as its counterpart in Newry. We are certainly entitled to dream the council would be able to build inner relief roads from its own funds. Nevertheless, let us not kid ourselves that anyone will propose the reintroduction of domestic rates without receiving a direction to that effect from Europe.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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We have domestic rates by the back door.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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We need to take a more innovative approach to commercial rates. I am particularly concerned about small rather than big businesses. I am not taking the IBEC line on this issue as I have experience of the matter but all businesses should pay their share and those which can pay should pay. That a large proportion of the commercial rates bill is paid by a small percentage of businesses needs to be examined. The north west and other areas have experienced a number of company closures in the traditional sector in recent times.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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In that case, the Senator will deny his colleague speaking time.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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I will not do so for fear I might drop a preference and will hand over to Senator Leyden gracefully.
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, with his distinguished local government career, is acquitting himself extremely well in office. The former Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Noel Dempsey, recognised the contribution of local councillors by providing — correctly — that they receive a reasonable level of remuneration. His successor, the current Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, removed the dual mandate, a measure I opposed at the time, although I have since become a convert. Today, for example, two local council meetings which I would not have been able to attend will be held in County Roscommon. Able councillors in the county will deal with the matters which arise.
The formation of the regional health forums is a welcome development. I attended the inaugural meeting of the Western Health Forum yesterday at which the Fianna Fáil Party candidate, Aidan Colleary, was elected chairperson with the support of the Labour Party, while Labour Party councillor, Kieran Walsh, was elected vice-chairperson with the support of the Progressive Democrats Party. We, in the west, have formed a new coalition of the Fianna Fáil, Labour and Progressive Democrats parties under what is known as the "Merlin Park accord". It is a new beginning for the region.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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How did Fianna Fáil get mixed up with that lot?
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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I would like the new policing committees being established by the Minister and his colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in 15 pilot schemes at a cost of €100,000 to be extended nationwide as quickly as possible.
The establishment yesterday of the first regional health forum attended by 40 members marks a new beginning. Four other forums will follow. Senator Ulick Burke and I are former members of the Western Health Board. I was privileged to attend yesterday's meeting to observe democracy in action and the beginning of a new relationship between the different parties. I congratulate Councillor Aidan Colleary again on his election as chairman of the new Western Health Forum.
7:00 pm
Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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I thank all Members who have contributed to the debate, which acknowledges the contribution of local government to the country in the past 100 years. I thank the Minister for his very comprehensive address which shows the commitment of the Government to the delivery of services for the further development of local authorities. Development charges were mentioned. When the results of the audit become available to the Minister, I am sure they will show a surplus for charges collected by most local authorities in 2005. Together with local government the Minister should consider how the funds can be spent on local development plans. Now that the contribution to certain schemes has finished, an opportunity exists for funds to be matched at national level and services implemented at local level. I am delighted to see the importance of the water services programme and the commitment and support of the Minister in implementing the scheme. Much has been said about bundling schemes. The local authorities will seek to make the schemes smaller and spend the €5.1 billion on those schemes.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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As there is a problem with the electronic system, the vote will be taken manually.
The Dail Divided:
For the motion: 15 (James Bannon, Paul Bradford, Fergal Browne, Paddy Burke, Ulick Burke, Maurice Cummins, Frank Feighan, Michael Finucane, Brian Hayes, Joe McHugh, David Norris, Kathleen O'Meara, Joe O'Toole, Brendan Ryan, Joanna Tuffy)
Against the motion: 27 (Cyprian Brady, Michael Brennan, Peter Callanan, Margaret Cox, Brendan Daly, John Dardis, Timmy Dooley, Geraldine Feeney, Liam Fitzgerald, Camillus Glynn, Brendan Kenneally, Tony Kett, Michael Kitt, Terry Leyden, Don Lydon, Marc MacSharry, John Minihan, Paschal Mooney, Pat Moylan, Labhrás Ó Murchú, Francis O'Brien, Ann Ormonde, Kieran Phelan, Shane Ross, Eamon Scanlon, Jim Walsh, Diarmuid Wilson)
Tellers: Tá, Senators Cummins and Bannon; Níl, Senators Moylan and Minihan.