Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I believe this is the first visit of the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, to the House.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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This is my second visit.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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My apologies; it is my first time meeting him as Minister of State.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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This visit is just as important.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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It is a privilege for me, while in the Chair, to welcome my neighbour and good friend, the Minister of State, and I congratulate him on his appointment.

Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. He is one of the hardest-working Ministers of State in the House. I am sure he will have no problem in taking over the big shoes of Deputy Peter Burke in what is a tough portfolio. I am also sure we will see a lot of the new Minister of State here.

I raised this issue with the Minister of State's predecessor. I acknowledge that the new Minister of State has put a great deal of work into it because we have talked about the local representation allowance that councillors receive. I believe the legislation does not specify whether the allowance covers alarms, CCTV and panic buttons. I believe that this is something that needs to be outlined, particularly in the light of recent attacks on the homes of politicians, as well as marches and protests at their houses. We should at all cost protect councillors because they are at the forefront of politics. Like Deputies, councillors are extremely immersed in their local communities. The basic thing that councillors need is protection and anything that we can do to help and to improve their security would be beneficial.

As the Minister of State will be aware, councillors can submit a claim that covers 14 categories. Some of them tie in but I advise that we add another category of home security systems. As the Minister of State has been working on this issue, I ask him to enlighten us about the situation.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Acting Chairperson for his words of welcome. As a former Member of this House I am always glad to come back here for its excellent debates on various topics. I thank Senator Davitt for raising this matter. I am particularly grateful for the opportunity to come before the House today to speak about the important issue of councillors' security.

Local government plays an important role in the life of the nation and is responsible for the delivery of a wide range of services. The activities of local authorities are overseen by elected councils, which provide a forum for the democratic representation of local communities.

All elected representatives should be free to carry out their functions and representational role without fear of harassment or intimidation. Heightened adversarial attitudes to elected representatives is corrosive to democratic participation. It risks deterring potential new candidates and inducing existing representatives to withdraw from political life, which is very regrettable..

I know some concern has been expressed about candidates' information being publicly available whether through the ballot paper, ethics returns or other public documentation or, indeed, simply local knowledge. It is important that people are clearly identifiable when seeking to become public representatives. There is little that can be done to counteract local knowledge but we can and we must ensure that local representatives are in a position to protect themselves.

Under the provisions of the Local Government (Expenses of Local Authority Members) Regulations 2021 a range of allowances are payable to councillors to support them in carrying out their role. Senator Davitt has referred to that range of allowances. The 2021 regulations were given effect following the independent review of the role and remuneration of local authority elected members, which was overseen by Ms Sara Moorhead SC.

The local representation allowance, LRA, was introduced under the 2021 regulations. The LRA is payable to all councillors on a vouched basis. Its terms are similar to the public representation allowance that is payable to Oireachtas Members. The maximum annual allowance that can be claimed under the LRA is €5,160, which is €4,200 plus the €80 per month unvouched. .

The LRA is a flexible allowance with 14 eligible expenditure categories, which the Senator has identified, under which a councillor can claims expenses. Expenditure which may be claimed under the LRA must be wholly and exclusively incurred by a councillor in the performance of his or her duties, and must not include any personal element of expenditure. A member must be able to provide relevant documentation in the form of bills, receipts, invoices etc. for expenses that he or she incurred.

Local authorities are encouraged to be flexible provided that a member's requests are deemed to be reasonable and that the item of expenditure can be reasonably construed as coming under one of the 14 categories of eligible expenditure.The eligible expenditure categories include improvements to office accommodation and utilities of an office or offices, including home offices. Most councillors work from home some of the time and may have space in their home designated as a home office.

I am pleased to inform the Senator that clarifying guidelines issued from my Department in December 2022 included guidance of the issue of home security systems for councillors who have home offices. Installation costs of CCTV security systems may be covered in full under improvements to office accommodation category. Monthly and annual costs associated with home alarm monitoring may also be apportioned and claimed under utilities at up to a maximum of 20% of the total cost. The installation is under category 3 and the annual running costs are category 4.

To give full clarity on the guidance issued to the local authorities, the installation cost of CCTV may be covered in full under the category "improvements to office accommodation". Monthly annual costs associated with home alarm monitoring may also be apportioned and claimed with category 4, utility, up to a maximum of 20%.

Having looked back through it, the directions on it were updated on 1 September, including the improvement to office accommodation category. It does not specifically mention CCTV cameras. Utilities of an office or offices, under category 4 directions, include alarm security costs. I have discussed it with my Department. We will issue revised, updated directions. I have asked that category 3 will specifically mention CCTV installation. That should bring full clarity. However, under the guidance, under category 3, councillors can claim for installation of security cameras and they can claim annual running costs under category 4.

Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail)
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When the Minister of State is tightening up on the little bit of legislation-----

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Just directions.

Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail)
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Yes, directions on it. When he is on it, I implore the Minister of State to look at the full cost of paying an alarm company. To have only 20% allowable is not 20% security. Mainly, the security is tied to the person's position as an elected representative. I would implore the Minister of State to allow the 100% grant of the monthly expenses. The expenses are €4,200 plus the €80 per month. If they want to claim it for security and they think it is the most important thing for that particular councillor to do, they are well entitled to it. I cannot see why it would be just 20%. We looked for phone expenses and we were only talking about 20% and whatever else. Now, mobile phones are totally allowable. The Minister of State might please try to tighten up that end of it.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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To give clarity to the Senator, under the current directions, statutory instruments and guidance issued last September, councillors are entitled to get the full cost of an installation of a CCTV camera system in their home. They are entitled to 20% of the annual running cost thereafter. I take on board the Senator’s point. They will be issued with revised directions for expenses of elected members of local authorities. My Department officials are now working on that. I will ask them to take on board the points that the Senator raised.

I thank Senator Davitt for his insightful contribution. He brought up the wider questions about public life. I acknowledge the work of the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, as well as the County and City Management Association, CCMA. In 2022, the AILG provided a training module to councillors to provide an understanding of personal security and safety risks in a number of settings and a number of particular risk types. It plans to deliver further courses this year involving senior members of the Garda.

I would be very pleased to engage with the councillors and their representative bodies. I thank the Senator for bringing up this important issue.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I would like to acknowledge the sterling work that Senator Davitt does in this area on a regular basis in this House.