I welcome the Bill. By any standards the changes proposed in the Bill will make history. If the Bill is passed, I, along with Deputy Ryan and other colleagues who had the honour to be members of Dublin County Council, will also have the honour of being members of the first Dublin County Councils, I as a member of the first Dublin South County Council. The county councils served our people well for the past number of years. It is inevitable that this type of transition must take place. There has been great expansion in the County Dublin area during the past 20 to 30 years. I remember when the Dublin area was effectively one constituency, which stretched from the area I now have the honour to represent — Walkinstown and Perrystown — to Deputy Ryan's constituency on the borders of County Louth. The Dublin area is now represented by a large number of TDs. I recall some of those people who represented the large population of approximately 0.5 million people who live in that large area — for example, the late Seán Dunne, Mr. Justin Keating, the late Paddy Burke, Mr. T. F. O'Higgins former Chief Justice and Larry McMahon.
Dublin Country Council comprises 78 members; it is unwieldy and unsatisfactory. As Deputy Ryan said, the chamber in which it transacts its business is unsatisfactory. There is a series of pillars in the middle of the chamber which blocks the view of members opposite. Some people might consider this an advantage, but it is useful to view the opposite side and note what their body language indicates. To some degree meetings tend to be chaotic. The chamber is much smaller than the Seanad Chamber, yet the number of members of Dublin Country Council exceeds that of Seanad Éireann by 18.
My colleague, Deputy Broughan, made a fine speech yesterday which derives from his sense of place and what is best for Dublin. I would not agree with all aspects of his speech, but it was a fine expression of a sense of place that relates to the old Dublin. We are now dealing with the new Dublin. Approximately one-third of my area of Dublin South Central is in the Dublin County Council area and will be part of the new South Dublin Council. The remaining two-thirds of my constituency is in the Dublin Corporation area and I have the honour to represent areas as old as Rialto, Dolphins Barn and those as new as the Orwell Estate and St. Annes.
When talking about these changes it is appropriate to put on record the fact that they were initiated in 1986 by my colleague in the Labour Party, Deputy Liam Kavanagh, when Minister for the Environment. It was he who set the ball rolling and it has worked its way to this final proposition which is before us today.
I wish to refer to specific provisions in the Bill. I welcome the changes relating to responsibility for water supply from the mains to the households in the Dublin County Council area. This may seem a rather technical and obscure matter, but in the Dublin County Council area the household is responsible for repairing and maintaining the water supply. In an area such as Whitehall Road in my constituency if the water supply is damaged by traffic responsibility for repairs, which may cost thousands of pounds, rests with the householder. This arrangement proved very unsatisfactory. It was difficult to explain these matters to the public, particularly since Dublin Corporation is empowered to deal with all such problems in its area. The same applies in the Dún Laoghaire area.
While this may seem a trivial point to some householders, in County Dublin, it represents a very important and worthwhile change. I vividly recall receiving representations from a constituent who experienced problems when the road across from her house had to be dug up to replace a waterpipe. This lady told me that in order to pay for the work she would have to cancel her holidays. Such was the enormity of the problem for people unfortunate enough to live in these areas. I welcome the change in the law in that regard.
A number of my colleagues on Dublin County Council referred to the difficulties that arise due to the fact that Dublin Corporation owns houses in the Dublin County Council area. That represents an enormous democratic deficit because, as a number of speakers have said, people who reside in Dublin Corporation housing located in the county council area must exercise their votes for the county council. They vote for members of Dublin County Council in the hope that they will exert pressure on Dublin Corporation on their behalf. This is totally unsatisfactory and I welcome the provision dealing with this matter. Like Deputy Ryan, I hope it will not be put on the long finger and that real action will be taken in this regard. I accept some of the points made by my colleague, Deputy Tommy Broughan, yesterday in relation to ownership of land purchased by Dublin Corporation. That problem also must be dealt with.
In the event of changes being made, staff concerns were bound to arise. These concerns were inevitable and to a large extent they have been addressed. I hope the matter is dealt with to everybody's satisfaction. Bearing in mind that some people will be inconvenienced, I hope that they will be appropriately compensated.
Sections 23 and 24 deal with the appointment of the coroner and sheriff and these appointments remain unchanged. In relation to the chief veterinary officer, it is proposed that this person, who previously covered an area with a population of 200,000, will cover an area with a population of more than half a million people. The Minister should consider the implications of that change. This office is being downgraded while the professional services provided by other officeholders such as the coroner and the sheriff remain unchanged. I am puzzled why we are making fish of one and flesh of the other. I would welcome the Minister's comments on this matter. It should be considered with a view to resolving the difficulties referred to in the initial report which laid the framework for this legislation.
Many of the problems experienced by Dublin County Council in latter times relate to security. I constantly receive representations from people asking me to request Dublin County Council to build a wall, erect a fence or close lanes in an attempt to deal with the worsening security problem in Dublin. These responses are totally inadequate because in many cases the problem is simply being pushed to some other area. Householders are very concerned about this problem and the county council spends a large amount of money trying to deal with it.
Problems recently arose as a result of Halloween festivities. I accept that this matter is not directly relevant to the Bill, but the county council should be given greater powers and resources to deal with bonfires at this time of year. I received a large number of representations, particularly from elderly people living alone, who were scared that as a result of bonfires their houses would be burned. Dublin County Council worked all day last Sunday trying to cope with this problem and in many cases, if they did not believe there was an immediate risk to overhead cable or houses, they simply let the fires burn.
There are enormous problems in relation to traffic control in Dublin. I am glad the Dublin Transportation Initiative is proceeding with its proposals, and I hope that results in a resolution of the problem. There is still a lack of information on the availability and cost of installing ramps and bollards. This is an ongoing problem for people who represent County Dublin.
Public representatives constantly receive representations asking them to try to eliminate rat-running. Of course, it should be remembered that the elimination of rat-running in one area merely leads to the problem being transferred to another area. I am happy to say that this matter is being dealt with. It is important that the public realises the cost of installing these ramps. If I remember correctly, two sets of ramps have been installed in each electoral area in Dublin. Having regard to the scale of the problem, this is a trival response. I think the residents of 200-300 housing estates have requested the installation of ramps in their estates. These ramps cost in the region of £30,000. This explains why so few ramps have been installed in housing estates.
A number of Deputies referred to planning. This is one of the very desirable aspects of the proposed changes. I have no desire to be involved in making decisions on the zoning and rezoning of areas in County Dublin which are miles away from me. In many ways these areas are like another world. It may be Deputy Sargent's world, but it is not my world. As far as I can gather, Balbriggan and Bray are excellent areas, but I do not think public representatives from the Terenure electoral ward should be involved in making decisions on zoning and rezoning in those areas. People who live miles away from these areas should not be concerned about such issues.
Deputy Ryan referred to the criticisms recently levelled against councils. I agree with him that this criticism is not merited. However, it is part of the wider criticism of politicians in general. Politicians are easy meat nowadays — it is easy to pick on them and point out their flaws. Regardless of whether we are politicians, captains of industry or ordinary men and women, none of us is perfect. It is possible for a society to become too engrossed in nit-picking and making petty criticisms of politicians. I want to ask people who engage in this type of activity: with what do you propose to replace politicians? What will replace the political process when it has been downgraded and respect removed from it? The democratic process has severe limitations but when it is compared with the other alternatives — for example, tinpot dictators — I think most people in a civilised world would be in favour of it. I am not saying for one minute that there is no need for reform of the democratic process — there is a need for reform — but we need to be careful about becoming trapped in a destructive situation. I was pleased to see articles on this subject by Dr. Garret FitzGerald in last Saturday's The Irish Times and by Roy Jenkins in one of the British newspapers. I am glad a debate has begun on this issue, which badly needs to be addressed. If the case in favour of the democratic process if not put we may well fall down a slippery slope which will not be in anyone's long term interests.
I wish to refer to the proposed changes in terms of their implications for organisations such as the GAA. Far be it from me to start telling the GAA what it should do, but I wonder if a case could be made for the organisation of future hurling and football matches around the concept of the four new counties — in other words, the Dublin Corporation area, the South Dublin area, the Fingal area and the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area. Consideration might be given to this suggestion. It is very difficult to organise GAA matches on a County Dublin basis, where almost one-third of the population of the county resides. My suggestion would give the less skilled inter-county players and opportunity to play for their county, an opportunity they would not otherwise have under the present system. As I said, that is merely a suggestion; I would not dream of telling the GAA what to do.
