Over the past year, I have held both formal and informal consultations with a variety of local government interests on the issue of the creation of new town councils and their prospective functional responsibilities under the Local Government Act 2001, including at formal meetings with the Association of Municipal Authorities in Ireland, as well as with Celbridge and Maynooth community councils, as referred to in the reply to Question No. 653 of 15 November 2005.
The issue also features in my discussions with other local authority associations, individual local authorities and community groups, as the opportunity arises.