asked the Minister for the Environment the proposals he has for local government reform; and if he will give an assurance that the White Paper published in 1971 will not be implemented in its present form.
24.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Local Government Reform.
22.
asked the Minister for the Environment the proposals he has for the reform of local government.
25.
asked the Minister for the Environment when he proposes to bring the Local Government Reorganisation Bill before the Dáil; and if he will make a full statement on the matter.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 24 and 25 together. I have under consideration the question of what reforms may be necessary in local government structures. This examination will take account of all earlier proposals for reorganisation and of developments which have occurred in the meantime. The framing of any amending legislation will have to await the outcome of this examination.
Could the Minister clarify his attitude to the White Paper of 1971 about which I asked in my question?
Examination is going on at present as to what changes will or should take place. What applied in the White Paper or in accordance with its proposals—whatever year it was— and the further examination of proposals which were under consideration by my predecessor may not necessarily apply at this time. As the Deputy will appreciate, local government, or the environment as it is now called, is very much a changing scene with derating and many more aspects. Therefore it requires new examination of the whole field.
To clarify my understanding of the Minister's reply am I correct in assuming that what he is saying is that the then Minister Molloy's proposals in the White Paper have not been ruled out at this point? Am I correct in assuming that the Minister is not ruling out the proposals for restructuring outlined in the 1971 White Paper?
What I am saying is that the said proposals may not necessarily be relevant at this time.
Then the answer is "Yes".
It is not "Yes". As I said in my original reply, the whole matter is under consideration and examination at present. It does not necessarily follow that the proposals contained in the then Minister Molloy's White Paper will be implemented at all. It does not follow.
Am I right in assuming then that we are in a position where all things are about to be reviewed and where there are no preconditions of such reviews? Is that the case?
It is correct to say that all things are now under review, with no commitment concerning previous proposals.
Is that in line with the Minister's written commitment prior to the election and his party's manifesto in which it is said they will reorganise local authority structures so that everyone can better participate in decisions affecting their own community and so on, which clearly implies a policy viewpoint from which the Minister is now backing away?
I would not agree that I am backing away from what was contained in the manifesto. The manifesto stated that Fianna Fáil would reorganise local government structures so that everyone can better participate in decisions affecting their own community and play their part in development of local initiative.
Surely that is a condemnation of the present system, implying that the Minister is not satisfied with it and that he has certain ideas——
We cannot have an argument on that matter now. The Deputy is giving information rather than seeking it.
Will the Minister state if we may expect a decision before the next local elections on this very important matter?
I have said already that the matter is under examination. I am not going to anticipate the date of the decision but it is under examination.
That means nothing. It is not a Government we have; it is only a review body.
That is an argument and is not in order at Question Time.
Does the Minister accept that it is in the interests of democracy that the powers of local authorities should not be diminished in any way, that on the contrary if possible there should be greater decentralisation of powers from the central Government to the local authorities?
That is a wide-ranging question and I do not think it can be raised at this point.
If I may answer that question, perhaps I could tell the Deputy that I shall be dealing with the matter at some length in a later question.
(Cavan-Monaghan): Will the Minister tell us when he set up the review body, the personnel of that body and when he anticipates, even roughly, that he will receive a report?
As I have said already, I cannot anticipate the date of any decision. With regard to the setting up of the review body and the personnel, I am not yet in a position to say who will be the personnel.
(Cavan-Monaghan): It has not been set up yet?
No. It is under examination at present without a review body.
(Cavan-Monaghan): The Minister is toying with the idea of setting up one?
Will the Minister agree that the proposals circulated by his predecessor contained a number of simple proposals such as those facilitating the establishment of the office of mayor in certain towns and the establishment of new local authorities in developing areas, simple proposals that could be proceeded with quickly? Further, will he not agree that it might be wise to adopt some of these measures in the relatively near future rather than wait for the full review to do anything?
This is the type of question that leads to argument.
I would remind the Deputy that my predecessor did not adopt them.
He circulated the heads of a Bill regarding this matter.