Vol. 476 No. 2
2 Mr. O'Dea asked the Taoiseach the recommendations, if any, which have been made by the Devolution Commission for local government reform; if so, the action, if any, which has been taken on foot of these recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6508/97]
The interim report of the Devolution Commission was published in August 1996. That report and the Government statement in response to it were laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. I understand the commission is finalising a second report. I do not wish to pre-empt the commission's work by commenting further at this stage.
When does the Taoiseach expect the final report to be available? Does the Government have an action plan to respond to the report and to put into effect any proposals it chooses to make?
It is not possible to indicate what the Government proposes to do about a report it has not yet received. In regard to the first report, the Government acted on that in the White Paper on local government produced by the Minister for the Environment. A substantial number of the recommendations of the interim report were incorporated in the White Paper and will be carried forward into legislation which will be introduced shortly by the Minister for the Environment. As to the first part of the Deputy's question, I expect the second report to be received quite quickly. I understand the commission is meeting today and may finalise the report at today's meeting or, if not, at a subsequent meeting.
In view of the fact that local government is financed to a certain extent by local revenue, when does the Government expect to announce proposals to end the discrimination it has created against members of certain group water schemes in rural areas?
The Deputy is entering into an area deserving of another question to the Minister for the Environment.
It is directly related.
It is a separate question entirely.
On a point of order, surely the question of local government finance is directly related to the question of local government reform. They are inextricably linked. I would like an answer to my question. When does the Taoiseach expect proposals to come forward to end the discrimination created by the Government against members of rural group water schemes?
I have said the Deputy is raising a specific matter worthy of another question.
Page 27 of the interim report refers to group water schemes.
That may be so but it does not necessarily mean the Deputy can raise any matter.
The Taoiseach might like to respond to the question of the devolution of powers in relation to group water schemes. He referred to a second report on the devolution of functions and powers to local authorities. Is that the report the Government requested the commission to produce before the end of last year? Will the Taoiseach enlighten the Whips as to the reason the interim report was referred to them for their consideration?
I am not aware that the report has been referred to the Whips. The first report, which considered the relationship between local partnership companies, other local development organisations and statutory elected local authorities and which made a number of recommendations on that matter, has been acted upon in the White Paper of the Minister for the Environment, which was approved by Government and will be incorporated in legislation. The report now in preparation is at an advanced stage and I expect we will see it quite soon.
The Whips are as bemused as the Taoiseach as to the reason it was referred to us. Perhaps the Taoiseach will ascertain the reason for that before the next Question Time.
The Whips attending the meeting will have an opportunity of inquiring into that matter. As the Deputy is one of the Whips, he is fully equipped with the means of obtaining any information he wishes to obtain.
No one seems to know.
Without making any judgment on the contents of the report, is it the Taoiseach's view that, in a country with a population of 3.6 million, there are too many layers of bureaucracy at local and national level? The various partnership bodies and other agencies are all involved in administration. Where will it end?
The Deputy has a point.
The Taoiseach should not be too surprised.
I would never underestimate Deputy Burke in any matter. The Deputy has a point. The various bodies were established for historically varying reasons. Viewed from today's standpoint, it is difficult to justify their number and the inter-relationship between them. Viewed from the standpoint of the time of their creation, however, each of them was justified. The Minister for the Environment's proposals will simplify the matter somewhat by ensuring the various bodies are more integrated. It is also fair to say, in contra-point to what Deputy Burke has said, that there were complaints in the past that the State was unduly centralised, in other words, there was too much power in the centre and insufficient power devolved to individual bodies and functions at local level.
Like the regional education boards.
That matter is now being remedied to some degree, but if the intention is to devolve functions being carried out by one body at national level to perhaps 26 bodies at local level, it is inevitable there will be more bodies doing the same functions than there were previously. The price of decentralisation of power is some administrative complexity. The task of Government is to find the right balance between decentralisation and undue complexity.
