Vol. 347 No. 3
asked the Minister for the Environment, in view of the serious hardships and difficulties affecting members of local authorities in the execution of their duties due to the high cost of communications, if he will draft emergency legislation to enable members of local authorities to have proper postage and telephone facilities similar to those existing for Members of the Oireachtas.
24.
asked the Minister for the Environment if he has any proposals on the supply of stationery to members of local authorities.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 together.
The merits of these suggestions can best be considered in the context of the examination of local government reform which is in progress. There will be no avoidable delay in completing the examination.
On the question of stationery, is the Minister aware that the former Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Deputy Quinn, wrote to the association of local authority members on 20 July stating that the question of stationery for elected members seemed to be a matter which could best be considered by the local authority themselves. Six months later the secretary of the Department of the Environment, in reply to a query from Galway County Council, stated that there is no statutory provision in local government legislation to allow local authorities to provide stationery for their elected members. Could the Minister clarify matters in relation to this very simple request?
The position in relation to free stationery for councillors is that while there is no specific statutory provision, some local authorities provide it for their members. It is considered that this is an area where local authorities could use their discretion, pending the introduction of specific statutory authority for providing it.
Did the Minister's predecessor meet the county managers' association on this matter and also in relation to postal and telephone facilities for local authority members?
I am not aware whom my predecessor met in this connection.
Did the Tánaiste, in his capacity as Minister for the Environment, meet the county managers in relation to these matters?
The Tánaiste met the county managers in relation to a number of matters and it is quite possible that this was one of the areas discussed. I cannot confirm that.
Will the Minister undertake to meet the county managers' association on the question of facilities for local authority members, as there seems to be some confusion as to whose responsibility these matters are?
It is the decision of the county manager as to whether this facility should be allowed. If this can only be done by statutory authority, we will look at the question in the review of local authority structures.
Question No. 25.
A Cheann Comhairle——
This is the last supplementary on this question. It has been widened much too far.
In view of the fact that many local representatives write to various Departments and since the Departments will not now accept post without postage being paid, will the Minister make some interim provision for members of local authorities until this famous reform is carried out?
No. It would be up to the local authority to make provision in that respect.
Would the Minister be opposed to local authorities making this facility available? Do the local authorities have the Minister's blessing?
In times of stringency like this, the Minister would leave it up to every local authority to make that decision on the basis of their finances.
Can I take it that the Minister is giving every local authority his blessing in providing this simple facility for local representatives who are unpaid and are out of pocket? It would strengthen the case of local representatives if we had the Minister's blessing.
That is repetition.
When the review takes place this will be considered but in the meantime it is up to every local authority to decide on this issue.
We cannot have this all day. The Minister has said it is under review.
