Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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430. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the AMAI Policy Document on Municipal District Councils; if he will give further consideration to the request of this Association to retain town councils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22251/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Action Programme for Effective Local Government - Putting People First, sets out Government decisions for a range of local government reform measures including the decision to replace town councils with a new comprehensive model of municipal governance to strengthen local government within counties and address weaknesses and anomalies in the current system. The AMAI Policy Document on Municipal District Councils, issued in response to the Action Programme, is useful in providing an understanding of the perspective of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland (AMAI). However, it would be more appropriate and useful for the AMAI to develop sectoral positions and a joint response together with the Association of County & City Councils (ACCC) on matters in relation to the implementation of the Government's Action Programme, as county councillors will have responsibility, from mid-2014 onwards, for the direction of their local authorities both at County Council and Municipal District levels. In the transition to the system where each county councillor will also be a councillor in respect of a Municipal District, there is a need for a close working relationship between the two Associations at this time.

The role that councillors can play in shaping structures and providing input into the implementation of the Government's Action Programme is very important. I have accordingly established a Working Group for Engagement with Local Authority Representative Associations to provide a direct conduit for input and involvement by both the AMAI and the ACCC in the reform implementation process. Discussions have taken place with the two associations on several of the issues addressed in the AMAI response to the Action Programme, and these discussions will continue.