I move:
That Seanad Éireann notes the centenary of the first meetings of the County Councils of All Ireland in April, 1899 and pays tribute to the achievements of our local government.
Centenary of County Councils of All Ireland: Motion.
I thank the House for affording us all this opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our local government system as we celebrate its centenary. It is a wonderful opportunity to pay proper tribute to the dedicated work of elected members and staff, past and present, in all local authorities throughout the country. Their public service deserves to be recognised in a special way.
It is only right and fitting, therefore, that the Members of this House, who have a special affinity with local government, locally elected members in particular, should formally record their appreciation of our local government system. Many Senators have been involved in the local centenary celebrations and in the national programme of commemorative activities.
Local government, as we have known it for a century, is an integral and essential part of our lives. Day in and day out local authorities work for and on behalf of all their communities. They do so in ever changing times.
A hallmark of any successful organisation is its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. The local government system has passed the test with flying colours. That system was born in another age, created by a Parliament in another land. It was not much more than 20 years old at the foundation of the State.
Since independence it has seen its role adapted and extended. Certain functions have declined in importance, others have increased. Some functions were removed – health services for example – and many new ones added in environmental, planning and other areas. Despite the upheavals, the constant and often dramatic changes, local government has managed an almost seamless continuity in meeting the needs of the community. At all times central Government and the community at large have depended on our local authorities to manage the changes and do the job.
They have done that job. Look at our extensive road network, the huge contribution to social housing – one third of all houses in the State were built by local authorities – the best of urban renewal, the well laid out parks, the extensive library service and so on. Local authorities provide much of the infrastructure so essential to our economic development. Yet they must ensure that development proceeds in a rational and orderly manner with due regard to the protection of the environment.
Many of the achievements of local authorities are all the more remarkable when we think of the difficulties they have faced. For much of the century resources were scarce. Local communities' self-esteem was at a low ebb. Time and again it fell to local government to be the catalyst for development, the energiser of local communities. At other times local authorities had to cope with meeting the demands of substantial public investment programmes. The ebb and flow of public investment creates its own strains and problems.
The fact that our local government system has served us so well for so long could not hide the fact that in the closing decades of the millennium it was in urgent need of renewal. The 1990s saw the start of the process, with Governments of all political hues introducing elements of reform. The Local Government Acts of 1991 and 1994, for example, marked the introduction of important measures of reform. The removal of the arcane ultra vires rule and the power to act on behalf of the community were significant steps in themselves in unshackling local authorities to better serve their communities. The progressive dismantling of central controls has reinforced this process.
The last three years have seen the pace of reform truly accelerate. The ongoing major programme of local government renewal will put local authorities right at the heart of their communities. Some of the elements of the programme are already in place with others in the process of implementation. Taken together, they will give people a local government system fit and ready to take on the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.
The new funding system in operation since the beginning of this year will provide the resources to local authorities to fulfil their enhanced role. With these additional resources come accountability, efficiency through value for money, performance indicators and transparency through modern accounting practices.
The key policy-making role of elected members will be enhanced and local democracy widened and enriched through the operation of the strategic policy committees. Local government influence at local level will be extended through the establishment of the county and city development boards and the implementation of their strategies by the boards. Crucially the whole programme will be underpinned by a comprehensive local government Bill, which will be debated in this House later this year. With the people's consent, local government will have constitutional recognition following the referendum in June.
Fundamentally, at the end of this programme, we want to see local government which is real, local and truly government. Real local government is about real things, about local authority housing schemes and tackling problems, about addressing social exclusion and drawing up sus tainable waste management strategies. Real local government means a local government that has real powers. Real local government does not just administer decisions made at central level, but is able to make best use of the discretion it has.
Real local government means that the policies, the plans, the visions are developed and implemented locally by the elected members in co-operation with local expertise, as on the strategic policy committees of the county and city councils, where councillors will debate policies with representatives drawn from the local sectors, because local people have the most valuable insights about what is happening locally. Local also means pushing out the activities and services from the city hall or county hall to area offices, making it easier for communities to interact with local government. This is increasingly happening.
Real local government is not just local administration, not just local service delivery. It is the place where government happens, where policies are made and implemented, true to the mandate which the people, the communities, have given to the elected members.
I cannot overemphasise the importance of seeing local government as the government operating locally. A hundred years ago that was what the new county and county borough councils were. They controlled and provided a substantial share of government services operating locally. They did more than just that, they had important political objectives also. Most historians would agree that they played a fundamental role in the constitutional struggle for independence. One commentator described the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898 – the legislation which founded the modern local government system – as "the legislative father of the Irish Free State".
In the intervening 100 years, two things have happened. Government services delivered locally have increased greatly – most of them outside local government. Also, local authorities are nowadays seen predominantly as service providers rather than as agents of political change. This presents two particular challenges to be met through the programme for local government renewal. First, local government should play a greater role in shaping all government policies and services operating locally. The implementation of the recommendations of the task force on integration of local government and local development systems offers an opportunity to do this. It will require imagination and leadership from local government. Second, local government must tackle important political objectives. The marginalised in our communities must be brought into the mainstream. North-South co-operation can be enhanced by contacts between local authorities. The problems of rural communities in the post CAP reform era need to be addressed. These are the kind of political objectives which a properly functioning local government system should be tackling.
As we salute the achievements of our local government system, perhaps we might reflect that its greatest achievement is that it has not only survived the past 100 years but has prospered and served us well. It has also found a place in the heart of our nation. The future is bright. Local government is being renewed and revitalised. With the reform programme in place backed up by a modern legislative framework, local government can face the future with confidence. It is a confidence that will be reinforced, if the people grant local government constitutional recognition, as I hope they will, on 11 June.
I acknowledge the broad political support for the programme of renewal across all political parties. Support is especially strong and tangible in this House. Such goodwill and backing is important in seeing the programme implemented.
It is an honour to speak to this motion congratulating Ireland's county councils in their centennial year. As a serving local authority member and as a Seanad nominee of the General Council of County Councils, an organisation which is also marking its centenary, I am pleased to note the achievements of the county councils over the past 100 years.
People are often surprised at the involvement of local authorities in the provision of services. We are talking about one of the largest employers in the country with one of the largest expenditures. The public will go into a state of shock when they are given those figures.
The various services provided by local authorities include the provision and maintenance of roads and footpaths; water supply; waste management; social housing – the Minister said 30 per cent of all housing was built by local authorities; planning and zoning; the provision of parking areas, about which the public is often not too happy; street lighting; the prevention of coastal erosion; the provision of library services including travelling libraries as well as those committed to each large town; the provision recently of heritage officers who will be paid by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, although we will probably have to carry the can at a later stage – perhaps that issue could be examined in the future; arts officers and the provision of grants to the arts and other aspects; the provision of parks; and leisure facilities such as swimming pools, etc. That is not an exhaustive list of the services provided by local government.
The Minister referred to the history of local government provisions and mentioned health care, an area in which local government may play a substantial role in the future. The Minister will recall when local government was involved in tourism also. Many people will remember the county council road tarring programme in the 1950s. That was a major provision because it transformed dirt roads into roads that were accessible both in winter and summer. Another achievement was the provision of essential repairs grants in the 1970s which put roofs on the houses of people who could not afford to do it themselves. I am merely listing some of the services provided by local councils because it is worth reminding people about them.
I realise I am speaking to the converted in that the members of the county and city councils form the electorate on which our presence in this Chamber depends. None of us relishes the gruelling itinerary of travelling the highways and byways on the Seanad election campaign. It brings home to us the massive scale of the network of county and city councillors located in virtually every parish in Ireland. It is easy to forget in the rarefied surroundings of Kildare Street that there is another world of public representation at local level living and breathing the concerns of local communities, bringing representation to people's doorsteps in towns and in the country and forming a bridge between members of the public and the apparatus of Government at the most immediate level possible.
Turning to the centenary, our timing could not be more symbolic given that it was in this month of April 1899 that the first generation of councillors elected through the democratic process, which itself was an innovation, met in the county towns throughout the country to begin the business of putting a framework of local government services in place. Thinking about that issue over the past few weeks, a number of points occurred to me. The first is that the local government process was an all-Ireland process; it is often forgotten that our Northern colleagues were also involved with us. New councils met in all of the 32 local government counties. There was no distinction between North and South at that time. A number of visionary people saw the potential for new councils to become the basis of a network from which people throughout Ireland could come together in an assembly to talk about issues which affected the entire island. Issues such as education, housing, public health and agricultural instruction were the priorities at the time.
Over the summer months of 1899 this initiative resulted in the formation of the General Council of County Councils which met on 22 August 1899, four months to the day after the meeting of the first county councils. While sadly the general council's status as an all-Ireland forum was a casualty of the general political turbulence of the early years of the century, I am glad to say that at local authority level the idea of co-operation between all parts of the island, and with our neighbours in the United Kingdom, remains vibrant. Counties in the Border regions are involved in cross-Border initiatives. This was mentioned by the Minister who said they should be encouraged, and indeed they are being encouraged by both LAMA and the general council. They have made a point of keeping strong links with the sister organisations in Scotland, England and Wales.
I see a strong role for the General Council of County Councils under the provision of the Good Friday Agreement, especially in the consultative forum provided by article 19 of Strand Two. I support the general council's application for membership of this forum which was established at a later stage in the implementation of the Agreement.
The centenary of the county councils has been marked in many ways. Individual local authorities have been celebrating in their own localities. Some local authority offices have been opened on the day on which they held their first meeting – County Galway being one of those. The President of Ireland, Mrs. McAleese, graciously hosted a reception for the members of the General Council of County Councils on the eve of the centenary. I was impressed by the speech made by the President at that celebratory evening. She said the role of local government is not an easy one but that consolation can be taken from the words of John F. Kennedy who said that his experience of government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully co-ordinated, there is not much going on. In a similar vein she quoted Charles de Gaulle who said that to govern is always to choose among disadvantages. She said that fact is rarely appreciated by the general public who, understandably, would ideally like to see the miracle of the loaves and the fishes repeated on a daily basis in every county in Ireland, with more or better services from the same limited basket of resources. The President said that, unfortunately, the reality is more prosaic, that politics is the business of trade-off, compromise and redistribution in accordance with the greater need and the greater public good. That is not particularly conducive to popularity among all the people all of the time. George Bernard Shaw told us that a government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. Needless to say, the support of Peter is a little more problematic. President McAleese recognised the role of councillors, the contribution they have made and the fact that decisions often are not popular but that councillors are, in the main, willing to make them.
I am glad to note the Government accepts the representation made by the general council and others to remedy a long-standing deficiency in the Constitution by proposing a referendum giving recognition to the status of local government in tandem with the forthcoming local elections on 11 June. Much more needs to be done, however, if the real achievement of local government is to rise above the corrosive cynicism being directed at public life at national and local level from many quarters. Many people claim that politicians, be they county councillors or Members of the Oireachtas, are not behaving in a way that reflects the standards and expectations of the people who elected them, yet many of those who are ready to complain are not prepared to take an active part in the democratic life of their communities.
How many people realise that on 11 June they will have the opportunity to take part in the most wide-ranging democratic exercise in the history of the State? How many realise that almost 900 representatives at county and city council level will be elected on that day, with another 700 or so seats being filled at urban and town council level? This is the true extent of local government, but there is another dimension to the exercise. Over 2.8 million people have the potential to vote. The local government franchise is the most inclusive and all-embracing in the entire machinery of the State. None of the limitations that apply to other elections such as those to Dáil Éireann or the European Parliament apply in the case of local government. Every resident in the State is entitled to be included on the register. How many of those 2.8 million people will turn out on 11 June? The turnout in the county council elections in 1991 was approximately 56 per cent. I would be concerned if the voter turnout in this election was any less. The mandate of local government would be weakened to a serious degree and become vulnerable in the eyes of those who are only too ready to undermine the status of local public representatives. Without delay the Minister and the Department should plan and implement a public information campaign in the local press and radio highlighting the value of local democracy. This campaign should urge people to take part in shaping the future of their localities, point out that participation is the bedrock of a society which values the opinions of all and emphasise the public's opportunity to participate on 11 June.
The people are out of practice when it comes to voting for local government – it is eight years since the last elections. In the meantime the concept of participatory democracy has become popular regarding new forms of partnership organisations which, although capable of good work, have no proven electoral mandate. The greatest exercise in true participatory democracy takes place in eight weeks and it is important that we claim the high ground for local government.
It is easy to take for granted the rights and opportunities denied to previous generations. The councils which met 100 years ago were the product of a transformation in Irish public life which saw voting rights extended from men of much property to men of little property and to women for the first time. The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, which formed the legal basis for the elections of 100 years ago, achieved the completion of the transfer of participation in public life from the "squirearchy" to democracy. It would be a travesty of the memory of these pioneers of democracy if we let the centenary pass without realising the achievement and contribution of local government. We must ensure that public participation in the electoral process to choose the first councils of the second century of local government is as widespread and vibrant as the founding fathers intended.
I would like to quote one of the founding fathers, councillor A. J. Glynn, a member of Galway County Council, who wrote the following review of the first decade of local government in 1911:
The result [of the new councils] has been so satisfactory as to furnish a magnificent proof of the administrative capacity of the Irish people. In the beginning there was no doubt some friction between the Central Authority [the Local Government Board for Ireland] and the local Councils. It would not, perhaps, be an exaggeration to say that the local bodies were looked on with some suspicion at headquarters. Now, however, speaking generally, all friction has disappeared, and the most harmonious relations exist. The local Councils, from the very start, have carried out their duties faithfully and well.
The House extends its thanks to all councillors who served in the first 100 years and to those who are not seeking re-election.
It is appropriate that the House recognises the centenary of local government by holding this debate. Local government has contributed enormously to the development of this country. While county local government goes back 100 years and was on an all-Ireland basis initially, town and city local government goes back further. There is a plaque in New Ross Urban District Council listing sovereigns and chairmen dating back to 1648. There are also hand-written minute books which provide a permanent record of debates which took place over 300 years ago. Local politicians and officials have made an invaluable contribution to the Ireland of which we are so proud, particularly in the past 100 years.
The Minister of State noted that the legislation which established local government was enacted in another age and created by a parliament in a different country. That legislation was 20 years old at the time of the creation of this State. We should remember that local government provided a forum for democratic self-expression when we were colonised. Many of those who served in local government played a significant role constitutionally and otherwise in achieving independence. Terence MacSwiney, who played his part in securing independence, was a former president of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, perhaps the oldest of the three representative bodies.
The first chairman of the General Council of County Councils was a Wexford man Thomas Grattan Esmonde. He and others came together in August 1899 and the first motion was that the council would be a substitute for an all-Ireland parliament until such a forum was achieved – the motion was passed unanimously. We should never forget the significant, tangible and historic link between the achievement of national independence and the local government system.
In the early days of county local government and independence, the contribution made by county and urban councils was most significant in addressing the lack of investment and expenditure on infrastructure and essential services basic to modern society. A previous speaker mentioned the involvement of local government in the health services. The escalating cost of these services begs the question whether it was wise to remove them from the ambit of local government? During that period, staff and elected members of local authorities played their part in building the health services and laying the foundation for today's services.
Local government also played a significant role in agriculture and education. Much of our economic success is predicated on investment in education, particularly over the past 30 years. In particular, local authority members have been significant contributors to the development of VEC schools and colleges which are such an integral part of the education system.
The Minister of State pointed out that local authorities account for one third of housing. In the early days when people lived in poor accommodation it was socially aware and consistent with the republican ethos to provide quality accommodation. I have been in local government for 25 years and have seen significant improvements in the design and quality of housing being provided. There should be no distinction between private and local authority housing estates. The quality of some new local authority schemes surpasses many of those in the private sector. That is a credit to the foresight and commitment of local government practitioners.
The provision of water and sanitation services was a significant step in modernising living standards. From the early days we tried to develop a road system that would accommodate what was always a growing economy. We can take pride in the remarkable evolution of our economy since independence. No matter where one travels in the world, Ireland is held up as a model of economic and commercial success, even in places such as the Far East to which we looked in the past as models of developing countries utilising their assets and resources to their best advantage. Ireland is now up there with them and is highly regarded.
Some of our present economic success is a result of the prudent investment of Structural Funds and other EU moneys. We should acknowledge that much of this expenditure has been channelled through the Department of the Environment and Local Government and the local government system. It has enhanced our infrastructure to accommodate our tremendous growth of 9 per cent to 10 per cent. Much remains to be done because that economic success is placing a strain on our infrastructure. This area will have to be addressed early in the next century and local government will be expected to meet the challenge of ensuring the pace of infrastructural improvement is commensurate with the demands which will be placed upon it by a growing population and economy. The Minister rightly said that local government has been a catalyst for development.
I congratulate the Minister and his Department on the manner in which they have commemorated this centenary. We are commemorating the legislation which was enacted in 1898 and the first elections which took place in April 1899. An Post issued two stamps on 4 June 1998 and a tree planting ceremony took place in the grounds of the Custom House on 12 August 1998 to mark the giving of the royal assent to the Act on the same date in 1898. A competition was held in 1998 for third level students to design a centenary logo for use on a wide range of print and other applications. The winning entry was designed by Conor Upton, a student of visual communications at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Mountjoy Square. The winning design was used by the Minister to commission a special centenary lapel pin, which we are not supposed to wear but which I have in my jacket. It was presented to all serving elected members and senior local authority officials at the special centenary lunch which was hosted by the Minister in the Burlington Hotel last December. It was attended by all chairmen, lord mayors and mayors of local authorities all over the country, as well as councillors from Northern Ireland.
The Minister also launched a centenary community initiative award for local authorities to celebrate the important role of local government in the community in the past 100 years. The National Archives organised a comprehensive and interesting exhibition entitled "Lovers of Liberty", outlining 100 years of local government, which has been displayed around the country. An open week will commence on 9 May. However, the most significant commemorative initiative will be taken by the Minister and his Department in June, with the publication of a new Bill which will chart the way forward for local government in the next 100 years. This is the most significant and meaningful way of recognising the contribution which has been made.
It is fair to say the State owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to all those who have served in local government in the past 100 years, who have given their own and their families' time on a voluntary basis. There is no remuneration for those involved in local government although hopefully this will be rectified in the forthcoming Bill. Local authority members are committed and dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of the communities which they serve and their counties. In this way they have taken the torch from the founding fathers of the State who fought for our freedom. They are ensuring in a constitutional way that that legacy will be enhanced.
At its recent annual conference in Waterford the Local Authority Members' Association honoured some members with 40 years or more service. These people have given more than 900 years service to local government between them. They are James Flanagan, Offaly County Council; Thomas Keenan, Laois County Council; Nicholas McCabe, Louth County Council; Bernard McGlinchey, Donegal County Council; Michael McWey, Kildare County Council; Kieran O'Riain, Waterford County Council; Godfrey Timmins, Wicklow County Council; Richard Wood, Cashel UDC; Harry Blaney, Donegal County Council; P. J. Burke, Clare County Council; Leo Carthy, Wexford County Council; John Conlon, Monaghan County Council; Thomas Culleton, Mountmellick Town Commissioners; Val Kerr, Ardee UDC; Michael McGuinness, Kilkenny County Council; John O'Flaherty, Wexford Corporation; Andy O'Brien, Cavan County Council; James P. O'Regan, Clonakilty UDC; Martin J. O'Toole, Mayo County Council and John Ryan, Tipperary North Riding.
In mentioning those members we also reflect on the many years of service that others, past and present, have given to local government. As we look back on 100 years of significant achievement we can congratulate all involved. Seanad Éireann notes with pride the centenary of the first meetings of the county councils of all Ireland in April 1899 and pays tribute to the achievements of local government and those involved.
I propose to share my time with Senator Cosgrave.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome this debate. Local authorities have proven themselves in the past 100 years and it is right that this House shows its appreciation to the members and staff of local authorities. In the 20 years I have been a local authority representative I have not seen a single penny misappropriated by Mayo County Council or Castlebar UDC which I represent. This also applies to local authorities around the country. This is a great achievement and goes to show that the local authority system has worked and will work. I do not doubt the Minister and the Minister of State are committed to giving extra powers to local authorities. Why should they not when one reflects on the achievements of local authorities in the past 100 years?
It is right that local authorities should be given extra powers, not petty ones regarding taxis etc. The Governments who took power from them should be ashamed because we have the most centralised system of Government in the world. We should give real powers to local authorities. Local authority members and staff will take the hard decisions which have to be taken and which come with responsibility. I have no doubt the local authorities will respond in that regard.
Previous speakers made reference to the members and staff who have given loyal and dedicated service to the local authorities. Senator Walsh was quite right to name the people who have spent over 40 years as members of various local authorities. It is interesting to note that a number of them have been Members of the Seanad or the other House. It is a great record for any person to spend over 40 years – a lifetime – as a local authority member. They have given that service on behalf of the people of their areas and they are to be congratulated. There was no reward or payment. I congratulate the local authority members' association for honouring those people who gave loyal and dedicated service to the areas they represent.
Local authorities have, as we said, proven themselves over the past 100 years. Additional powers have been given over the past number of years to local authorities. I urge the Minister to consider seriously giving them additional powers and restoring the powers they had many years ago.
I wish to draw the Minister of State's attention to planning. I thank him for announcing last week, in the centenary year of local authorities, that an additional 20,000 local authority houses will be built throughout the country. Those houses are badly needed by people who in the past would have been able to buy their own houses, but cannot do so now. The present system means that these people must rely on the local authorities to provide housing for them. The Minister of State is to be congratulated on providing for an extra 20,000 local authority houses over the next five years, which is a considerable amount of housing by any standards and is most welcome.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government has outlined new guidelines. He recently wrote to the local authorities indicating that he will be compiling a list of new guidelines in relation to housing densities and so on. Members of local authorities, whether town authorities or county councils, adopt town or county plans. This is a democratic process and the people's input has helped put those plans together. It behoves An Bord Pleanála to take cognisance of town and county development plans, not to disregard them.
In Garryduff in Castlebar a developer recently applied for planning permission for six houses, which was refused by the local authority on the grounds that it contravened the town development plan. However, the engineer who reported on it for An Bord Pleanála said he was basing his report on the new draft density guidelines issued by the Government and had no regard to the county development plan. That was a crazy decision and it resulted in An Bord Pleanála granting the planning permission after looking at the engineer's report. While I appreciate the board made an independent assessment of the situation, the engineer's report took account of the new draft guidelines but no account of a town development plan put in place by councillors. The people of the town had an input into that plan, as is their democratic right, and the town employed consultants to make a specialised report on various areas.
The Minister should pursue this further to An Bord Pleanála. Where people have expressed their democratic wish that there should be limits on housing and where they were informed some time ago that there would be no additional housing in a certain area, An Bord Pleanála should take the democratic wishes of the people and the elected representatives into account, rather than disregarding them totally.
I welcome the motion on the centenary of the county councils' first meetings. Great work has been done by local authority members and staff over the past 100 years. They are all to be congratulated on a job well done. A member of Mayo County Council said at our centenary meeting that if the first chairman had looked forward and said that one would be able to speak to people in any part of the world by putting a small instrument to one's ear or that one could fly around the world in an airplane he would have been locked away. I am not going to suggest what might happen in the next 100 years but I hope the local authorities will be as successful over the next 100 years as they have been over the past 100 years. I congratulate everybody concerned.
I welcome the Minister of State. This is a useful debate as most Senators have been or are members of local authorities and have first-hand knowledge of them.
In many ways 11 June will mark the end of one era and the beginning of another. I wish to put on record my appreciation, as the Leas-Chathaoirleach of the House, of the many people who have served on local authorities, not only current members who are not running again but the many people who have given a great deal of distinguished service over the years, perhaps without much recognition, to county councils, corporations, urban councils, district councils and town commissions. In their own way, they have played their part in giving public service by representing their neighbours and friends and achieving improvements for their areas. As it has been eight years since the last local elections, 11 June will represent the end of an era for many sitting councillors who are stepping down, many after long years of service. They have decided to call it a day, which is their decision.
I do not want to put a dampener on this debate but the gratuity – although it has been called some funnier and uglier names – for service by local authority members is unfair. It is only being paid to those who have formally decided not to run. We are not talking about large amounts of money because there is an upper threshold, even for colleagues who have given 30 or 35 years service and who are not getting as much per year as those, such as myself, who have less service, although I hope to be in the field again. Service should have been the barometer rather than retirement. Members of this House would not settle for not having their length of service taken into account. I do not know whether it is too late to look at that but I am sure that the Minister of State, being a fair minded person, can see my point.
I have represented Dún Laoghaire Corporation and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council since 1985. During that time we have seen extensive development in the Dún Laoghaire area and in County Dublin generally. A new town hall has been built and new facilities for members of the council. There is the question of the services available to the public, who should be treated as consumers, as customers. The officials, from the most junior up to the county manager, are there to serve the public, as are the councillors, and it is up to us to ensure that continues.
In the context of new powers, we can look back with a certain amount of satisfaction at the past 100 years. It is only by getting the legislation right, by giving extra powers, by looking properly at the question of funding and at the powers and responsibilities which local authorities have, particularly in relation to the provision of public housing, that we can make progress. I welcome the Minister's commitment to the provision of extra housing because in many areas of Dublin – Dún Laoghaire is no exception – waiting lists are growing. There are problems with rented accommodation and with availability of land. Spiralling house prices are a problem. We should not forget that there are some people who will never in their lifetime be able to provide for themselves and we should not be found wanting in that regard.
There is also the question of senior citizens' dwellings. In Dún Laoghaire we have promoted a good deal of refurbishment of those dwellings. We should not forget to provide such simple things as alarm systems for the elderly because, having served the country well, they deserve to be able to live in dignity in their latter days.
The whole area of general planning legislation must also be looked at. There needs to be greater accountability in relation to decisions made by officials, in relation to reports and with regard to how An Bord Pleanála runs itself. Without wishing to digress into what is happening at other fora in Dublin at present, I want to note that it is the statutory function of local authorities to make and examine development plans, to look for changes and to try to adapt them to meet changing requirements. We should not have to put up with some of the criticisms that are made at times. Much consideration has gone into development planning in Dún Laoghaire. When there was only one county council for Dublin, many meetings took place and good decisions were made in relation to proper and orderly planning.
Something that must be remembered in the future when developing housing schemes is that babies grow out of their prams, they grow up and need a proper infrastructure. There is no point in building rows and rows of houses without the necessary facilities, such as, community halls, football pitches and other recreational and leisure facilities, or without providing adequate shops, public transport and so on.
I welcome this opportunity to rejoice in what has gone before. I have been part of it for a while, as has my family. I look forward to being involved, if not for all of the next 100 years, certainly for a part of it.
I wish to share my time with Senator Ormonde.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome this discussion on local government. I also welcome the Minister of State to the House and compliment him on the work he has done for local government since he took office and on the changes he has made in many quarters, in particular with regard to the new housing programme he has implemented recently. It is a great step forward and will be beneficial in the future to people who are in need of local authority housing. I also compliment the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, on the work he has done to reform local government since he took office. Under the Minister and the Minister of State local government can look forward to a bright future.
This is a very historic year, particularly for people who are involved in local government. I am proud to have been in local government for 20 years this year. I hope to be back after 11 June to go into the new millennium as a county councillor.
I compliment the Government on the way it is celebrating and marking the events of the past 100 years and all the great people who went before us for the work they did on a voluntary basis. They struggled to build up their local community at a time when they might not have been able to afford petrol for their motor cars. Credit is due to all those people. I hope that under the new Bill some mechanism will be found to compensate new councillors properly for the work they do for their communities, their local authorities and their counties.
It is wrong that the media focus on the fact that county councillors travel here, there and everywhere. I travelled when I was quite young and came back here with certain ideas. It was not long before I was brought back to earth by people who thought I was 20 years ahead of my time, although I felt those people were 20 years behind the times. County councillors must travel to see developments in other countries in housing, roads and infrastructure, to get new ideas to bring back to their local authorities. They need to have vision and foresight in order to develop the country.
In the context of housing, it was only 30, 40 or 50 years ago that many houses had no electricity, running water or sanitary services and there was neither infrastructure nor roads. One had to go to a well for water and bring it to the house in a can. I remember having to do that. Mains water supplies became available and it was piped into houses. People take these things for granted, forgetting where they came from and the enormous cost of providing services, such as, putting in new reservoirs or improving the quality of water. These services are far more technical than they used to be and I compliment the people who had the foresight to put them in place.
These are new and trying times for us. We must look to the future. Given the growth in our economy, we will have to build anything up to 15,000 houses annually to provide for our young people who seek employment at home. Over a period of years there will be a levelling off, but we must provide services.
Many elements of local government have changed. I compliment the Government for the new funding structure it has put in place for the local authorities and I look forward to the new legislation. However, I feel strongly that much more money will have to be put in to the development of local authorities. More funding will have to be provided for the extension of water, sewerage and sanitary services, particularly treatment plants. Water and other charges have been abolished and moneys come from central funds. While the economy is vibrant money will have to be set aside for the future development of infrastructure. That is the only way forward.
I am glad to have been involved with the General Council of County Councils. I was honoured to be chairman of that organisation on two occasions. I wish to compliment my predecessors and those who are currently in the organisation on the manner in which they are carrying out their work and on their vision and foresight. Local authorities will be the way forward.
I also welcome the community involvement in the new policies being implemented and I look forward to working with these people. They have a great deal to offer and we have much to offer them. The Minister of State spoke about openness and transparency. That already exists at local level; there is nothing to hide. The management and staff of local authorities through the years have had to deal with many complaints about various matters due to the lack of money. At least the money is available now, although it is not enough.
Money is needed for road networks in particular. County Kerry, for example, endures massive rainfalls and storms. As a result, the roads seem to be washed away as soon as they are repaired. Something must be done if that county is to develop industry. That is another role local authorities are now playing which they did not play in the past – looking to the future development of their counties in terms of attracting industry. This cannot be done without a proper roads infrastructure. The Minister should consider this issue, particularly in the case of counties such as Kerry, which has a large tourism industry, and consider allocating extra funding to deal with the destruction of road networks as a result of weather and other factors. More money must be allocated to this area.
A previous speaker referred to the changes that have occurred, such as removing health services and agriculture from the remit of local authorities. When that happened everybody, myself included, considered it a bad idea. I believe local authorities should have an input into agriculture and health services in their areas. The health services have become an enormous sector and there is a great deal of pressure on it. I believed then and still do that the local councillor had a more hands on approach. He or she could find out what the problems were, what was the extent of the waiting lists and if an orthodontist was required. I am not sure that the removal of that power from local authorities is good. There should be greater involvement on the part of local authorities and greater participation by local authority members in all areas of life in the locality. They should be involved not only in providing housing, roads and sanitary facilities but also in other areas of life. Local representatives should participate in everything that happens in their localities.
I conclude by congratulating the people who have worked in local authorities, particularly those who are not going forward for election this year. I compliment them on their work. I look forward to the election of a new county council in Kerry on 11 June. I hope to be one of its members and I look forward to working in that capacity in the new millennium. There is a bright future for local government.
I congratulate the Minister for the Environment and Local Government and his Minister of State on their understanding of the work of local government and its achievements to date. It is clear that they have a great feel for the changes taking place at local authority level and their confidence has inspired me to believe that we will see many more changes in the early years of the next century.
This is a timely debate. The first county councils were established in 1899 in an all-Ireland process. This all-island approach was a casualty of the 1920s and partition and I welcome the prospect of the local authorities operating again on a co-operative North-South basis.
We are here today to pay tribute to the achievements of local government in the last 100 years. Since I became a local authority member in 1985 I have had the opportunity to meet other members, both older and younger than I, and to see their work. I have also heard a great deal about the dedication and commitment of past members of local authorities and I am delighted to have this opportunity to pay tribute to them and to show that the Seanad appreciates their great work. Indeed there is no better place in which to pay tribute to local authorities. If the members of local authorities did not support me in the Seanad elections, I could not be present today to pay tribute to them. I am delighted they helped to put me in the Seanad where I can speak well of their work.
There are fine people in local authorities but they are not getting recognition for their work. Since 1985 I have worked hard with my colleagues in Dublin County Council and, since the break-up of that council, in South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Fingal County Council. In all that time nothing has been said about the work being done on the ground by councillors. Nobody seems to know about it or the time devoted to visiting residents' associations and site meetings and conducting walkabouts in order to listen to people's problems. One never sees that work described in print.
It is a sad reflection on the media that they will not acknowledge the work being done by local authority members. It is a shame. All one hears about is tribunals which were set up to investigate the corruption the media appears to perceive as existing in local government. It is sad that we who work so hard must try to account for ourselves and to explain that we do this work when it should be evident from our activities in every area.
We live in changing times and we are trying to bring local government into the 21st century. I welcome the changes; they are necessary to adapt to the needs of today's local communities. Ireland has a highly educated population. Residents' associations do much of the necessary work themselves and only use local authority members to reflect their views. On one level, our work is made easier in that we do not need to find the problems. They are brought to us in a more direct fashion. I welcome that development.
I also welcome the participation, under the new reforms, of outside bodies on local authority bodies. It is important that we work in partnership with local residents and communities. Local government is essential for democracy. If there is no local democracy we might as well hang up our hats. There is no such thing as central Government, in my view, without its coming from the core of local democracy.
Tip O'Neill coined the phrase that all politics are local. Members of this House reflect what happens in their communities. They are the people with their finger on the pulse of events. It is they who have the knowledge to say what the policy should be. Policy does not come from inside; it must come from outside. That is one area where local authority members do not get full acknowledgement for the work they do. We create policy. However, the attitude seems to be that we are only the local county councillors and have nothing to do with the broader image of society. We are society. We are out in the community and when we come to this Chamber we air the community's views.
I welcome this opportunity to say "well done" to members of county councils throughout Ireland. I wish them well in the forthcoming elections. I hope we will all be re-elected. I pay tribute to the members who have served for many years and who refuse to take the scrappage, if the House will pardon the expression. They are willing to serve regardless. It is noble of them to wish to stay on and serve their country once more. It has nothing to do with age but with a belief that one can serve the community well. I am delighted to be here for this debate. I will not be around at the end of the next millennium but I hope the people who are will be talking about what we will have done over the next 100 years.
Mr. Ryan
It is not often that one makes a contribution with his party leader staring at him from the Chair.
Acting Chairman
The Senator will have to behave.
Mr. Ryan
I am too old to learn.
We do not sufficiently celebrate democracy. Humanity as we know it has existed on this planet for at least 100,000 years and it is only in the past 200 years that the concept of the organisation of society, based on control of its people, has been talked about. The famous democracies of Greece were not democracies; they were democratic for the elite but were slavery-based.
People talk about various ideas as being too idealistic and impossible to implement. There can have been no more idealistic a view, in the way that word is used negatively, no more unrealistic a view – a recipe for social disaster – than the one suggested 200 years ago that the best way to run a country, society or community was on the basis of the free consent of the governed. Democracy, with all its limitations and imperfections, is a most extraordinary idea, one that challenged an order of society based on an hereditary hierarchy and championed the free choice of people about how they should be governed, by whom they should be governed and under what set of laws or constitution. That needs to be said over and over again.
While it is to be welcomed that all organs of the media investigate absolutely everything about society, the subsidiary agenda of much of that investigation is not to broaden accountability in society. If it were, the Murdoch media would investigate Rupert Murdoch and they do not; the O'Reilly media would investigate Tony O'Reilly and they do not and The Irish Times would investigate the peculiarities of the Irish Times Trust which is supposed, in times of profitability, to give money to charity and so far has managed to avoid doing so. The problem with media investigation is that it is focused on the soft target of those who are exposed to the public. It begins with elected councillors and moves on to Members of the Oireachtas who are the ones who make mistakes and compromises in public. Officials are rarely put in that position because until recently they were in an environment where they did not have to explain themselves in detail. It was only in the past two or three years that An Bord Pleanála, a body which I know annoys councillors enormously, began to condescend to explain the reasons it took certain decisions. It still does not do that very elaborately. Until recently, the reports of its planning inspectors were a State secret and could not be divulged without, we were told at the time, undermining its entire functions. That information has been divulged and it has not been undermined. A continuing refrain throughout history has been that anything that makes systems of power more accountable to those over whom power is exercised is supposed to make it impossible to keep the system going. The truth always turns out to be the opposite. The more one makes government accountable and efficient the less corrupt it is.
If anyone wants to read what sounds like a very profound book but is an extremely entertaining one they should read Fintan O'Toole's biography of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. What people will be astonished by is the scale of institutionalised corruption that was part of the system of parliamentary Government in Britain 200 years ago. This is not an issue about Britain, which was probably nearer to being a democracy than most European countries at the time. It was taken for granted that when a person achieved public office they would immediately look for and get long-term secure employment within the State service for every member of their family who was then badly stuck for a job. There was extraordinary corruption of the franchise and the way in which elections were fought including extraordinary factionalism. Nothing we have seen here in the past 25 years would be regarded as anywhere near as ruthless as some of the manoeuverings carried on then, not for any reasons of State but because of an individual's desire to remain in power for reasons of personal aggrandisement and enrichment. Why has that changed? It has changed because the system became more open, demo cratic and accountable. There is a lesson here about all Governments and in particular local government.
One of the great failings of the political Left has been an obsession with centralising power, which is clear from accounts of the development of the democratic socialist movement throughout Europe. We have had an extraordinary obsession with centralising power which, I have no doubt, has been a mistake. It was a mistake because it misunderstood democracy which is not just what one does every five years or, in the case of local government, at whatever interval the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, chooses. What happens in between is democracy; it is the belief that those who are selected are accountable. One cannot do that if everything is centralised. The most powerful institution in this State, the Department of Finance, is not accountable. Its tentacles, in the name of the Minister for Finance, reach into every area of the State. He could not approve, check and rubberstamp everything that is being done in 100 different organs of the State which need approval in advance from the Minister for Finance. What we have is an extraordinary unaccountable centre of power and which will argue that the alternative would be to make life worse for our citizens. There is no evidence that democracy does anything other than enrich the capacity of any system to deliver. That is why it is regrettable that the Minister for Health and Children is proposing to set up a health executive comprising the chief executives of the health boards which will take to itself whatever powers the executives agree and which will not be accountable or democratic.
It is a myth that we can have a more efficient system of delivering public services by eliminating democratic accountability. That cannot work because it is based on a parallel with the private sector which is a system of hierarchical authority motivated by its need to provide the type of service the public wants so it can make money. The elimination of democratic accountability will not make anything more efficient, but less efficient in the long-term. It will create internal secret circles which will work to their own agendas. It is astonishing the number of local authority members who tell me the manager is doing something they do not want him to do and he does not have to explain why he is doing it. It is astonishing that we believe that system is better than a system of democratic accountability and that we would allow, encourage or perpetuate it.
We should celebrate and expand democracy. I am a great believer in experimenting with the system of town meetings in New England. We should encourage democracy at every level where the public can participate in a way that is accountable, structured and not open to manipulation. We should make clear that those who are elected to take decisions do so. We cannot create a fudge, even with Strategic Policy Committees, where it is not clear who is responsible and accountable.
We cannot allow people to articulate wonderful visions from the safety of a voluntary organisation, who have not had to put themselves before the people for election and who claim a type of a nobility of purpose which could not be attributed to a politician. There is nothing wrong with being a politician. People have a perpetual obsession with stating they are not involved in politics and that the organisation of which they are a member is non-political. It can be non-party political but there is no organisation involved in attempting to do anything in our society which is not by definition political. The pretence that there are wonderful people who are non-political and others comprising an inferior species of politicians is a media creation which is easy to perpetuate but which is unreal.
Local councillors devote many hours to local government, part of which involves occasional trips. Perhaps some trips are unwise but they are minuscule in terms of the amount of time and energy put into them. Local councillors do this for no financial reward. Local politics is bad for people in business because they cannot give it the same attention and for people who have a job because if they are allowed off work by their employer, it probably means their promotion prospects are reduced. Is there anyone working in the media who would be prepared to devote that much time to the service of other people for no significant financial reward? I suggest there is not because I know what some of these personalities charge to open a supermarket. The idea of unpaid service in the interest of the community is unknown to many of those who denigrate the motives and practice of politics.
There are many things we could do to improve democracy at local level, the first of which would be to end the dual mandate which allows people to be members of local authorities and Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The time has almost arrived for that because the number of Members of both Houses who have said to me they wish they could escape from the burden of having to run in local elections has increased. When I arrived in this House 18 years ago that suggestion would have caused howls of outrage. People have begun to realise that the burden of work of a local representative and of a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas has increased.
We are at the stage where a decisive Government with a majority in the Oireachtas can deal with this issue. This time three of the Independents said they did not want to deal with it, so nothing could be done. We are on the brink of doing something fundamental and necessary. As long as there are Members of the Oireachtas on local authorities, there will be an illusion that they have routes to central Government.
We must make clear once and for all that the manager, the management system and all the officials are subordinate to the councillors. The only time they would not be subordinate is when they are given an illegal instruction. That means there cannot be any secret meetings between managers and developers, irrespective of the motive. They can organise a system where members know what is happening and are expected to maintain their discretion, which they do in many areas.
Health boards have to deal with difficult situations, such as child custody cases, and members often find out information which they deal with responsibly. There will always be local authority members and officials who will behave irresponsibly. Without prejudging any of the happenings in this city, some officials seem to behave irresponsibly on a scale no public representative could dream of. Let us not choose the occasional examples. There is no reason local authority members should not know what their local authority is doing in every area.
I remember a specific example in Cork in the mid-1980s when there was a problem with methane gas in the main city dump on the Kinsale road. A firm of consultants was called in to report on it, but the city officials refused to let the members of Cork Corporation have copies of that report. It took a section 4 motion by the present Minister for Education and Science, who was a council member for that area, before local authority members were allowed to see the report about something which was potentially dangerous for the people living in the vicinity of the dump as there could have been an explosion. The idea that such a system is in many ways superior to a democratic system of accountability and that we would tolerate it is astonishing.
We are at a primitive level of local government. We have local government with powers in certain areas but mostly what we have is local administration. In my period of absence from this House, I was involved in a few academic research projects on environmental policy with colleagues in Denmark and Austria. Denmark's population is approximately the same as that of this island, while Austria's population is a little bigger. The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary degree of decentralisation of power and decision-making in both countries, while the first thing they noticed was the extraordinary lack of it and the difference in power and resources available to environmental protection officials, planners and administrators. The old excuse that we cannot afford it is not an excuse any more. We will not get dynamic local government by giving it more powers. Dynamic local government costs money. Members from a variety of political backgrounds have mentioned the planning issue. How can we have the scale of economic growth with the obvious boom in house building and other construction but not recognise the need for an expanded planning service in every local authority? Which genius in the Department of Finance decided that four or five times the number of applications to local authorities could be processed by the same number of planners?
In Denmark and Austria ten times more people work in local authorities, in planning, environment, sanitary services etc. In Denmark 20 per cent of those at work are in the public sector while in Ireland it is about 14 per cent. I am not talking about the commercial State sector but about central and local government. We will not get good local government if we carry on with this nonsense that the public sector is too big – in fact the public sector in Ireland is far too small to deliver the quality of services required. That is part of any proper system of devolved local government.
I welcome the opportunity to pay tribute to 100 years of local government and to all those who served, past and present. I pay tribute to Leitrim County Council who, in common with their colleagues throughout the country last week, held a special meeting to acknowledge the existence of local government and the contribution of elected members and officials since 1899. It was an emotion-filled day during which the members of the council received certificates of service. Those who represented former members also received a certificate of service. This was an appropriate and innovative proposal from the council executive.
In the course of the day I reflected on what it must have been like to have been a member of the first county council, having been elected following the 1899 Act – the buzz surrounding an election, the hopes and aspirations members would have carried to the council chamber in April 1899. It is a parallel with today. The year 1899 was on the verge of a new century but in this case we are on the verge of a new millennium. The new century brought new hopes and aspirations. The introduction of local government was a catalyst. It brought together the disparate political forces which had been coalescing for the previous 20 years under Parnell's leadership and the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster, who saw local democracy and the establishment of county councils as a first step towards eventual national political independence. It came to pass much quicker perhaps than some of those who sat in the council chamber in 1899 would have hoped.
I admit it was a partial independence, although the Local Government Act had been introduced for Britain and all of Ireland. By 1922 the county council network was responsible for 26 countries, while the remaining six were still within the political ownership of the United Kingdom. Its local government system has changed dramatically during the past two decades and cannot be compared with local government in the South.
It must have been an exciting time to be a county councillor. The people who were elected would have been imbued with a great sense of nationalism and pride in that for the first time they were taking part in democracy, what Lincoln so eloquently described in his Gettysberg address 30 years earlier, as power of the people, for the people and by the people. Local councillors and county councils quickly established themselves as the engine of growth. The county councils became the focal point within the various counties and that was to continue for many decades.
What would it have been like when 25 years of local government was being celebrated in 1924? This followed a period of great turmoil and change. The councillors would have been elected in a new independent Ireland with a different focus, different priorities and different agendas. They would have had an enhanced sense of idealism, nationalism and pride because of what we had come through and what, as a relatively young nation, we were embarking upon, the great adventure of independence.
In the 1940s, which was a difficult period during the Second World War, we experienced a change in the political milieu after 16 years of single party Government, when for the first time a coalition of various political interests, the first inter-party Government, was formed in 1949. This was also the year Ireland was declared a republic. In retrospect, much of the excitement associated with that occasion, notwithstanding the legacy in terms of North-South relations, was seen then and now as good and as something which Ireland had to do to assert its sovereignty and independence internationally.
This period also saw the first changes, for some time, in local government. In the early 1940s it introduced county managers, on which there was a great deal of debate. In the 1920s when discussion took place on the formation and the mandate of local government, there were many proposals suggesting the first citizen should be directly elected and that the mayoral system, similar to America, should be used. Perhaps there was an air of conservatism in Ireland at the time and the safe option was taken and we did not proceed down that adventurous and exciting path.
Councillors argued then and still do that the county managers restricted to a great extent the power of the county council. I suggest it also saw the shift away from the real power vested in elected members to an executive who make many of the decisions, albeit in consultation. The reality is that the county manager system restricted rather than expanded the power base of county councillors.
Some 25 years on, the 75th anniversary of local government would have taken us up to 1974. This was also a time of change. A couple of years previously the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy, who is present today, was the first Minister for Local Government to initiate proposals that were far reaching and radical. This was a period of change in Europe at the end of the 1960s and the 1970s. What I remember of it is very brief because I was an emigrant in England at the time. However, my father was then serving on the council and he was uptight about the possibility that Leitrim County Council would be abolished in favour of regionalisation, which was the buzz word. I am not sure if that was the proposal but my memory is that regionalisation was to be the theme of the 1970s and the view was that local councils had outlived their usefulness.
Interestingly, when one considers the current debate about how European money will be expended and the correct emphasis on the rapid expansion of our creaky infrastructure, it appears a regional approach is a much more efficient way of doing business. I do not suggest local authorities should be abolished but, in retrospect, the Minister of State's proposals would have placed important issues such as infrastructural and water and sewerage developments on a regional level. Instead of a county council debating where a road started and finished in its area of administration, there would have been a consultative level. I am not sure if the proposals at that time included a regional layer above local authorities or if it involved the abolition of the authorities.
It may have involved their abolition because at that time Great Britain was undergoing a similar revolution in local government and many town and county councils were abolished. I have been in small towns in Great Britain where pride of place in the local museum is given to the costume worn by the former mayor or alderman. The councils were in existence for decades and the tricorn hat, medal of office and red coat are now museum pieces because the town lost its local democracy. I doubt Ireland was taking a similar road but it is possible. If the Minister of State is replying to the debate, perhaps he could clarify that point.
In the interest of accuracy, I suggest to the Senator that he reread the White Paper. There was no proposal to abolish any county council.
I stand corrected. I said my recollection was patchy but I acknowledge that the Minister of State was a reforming Minister for local government. He was the first Minister to introduce such radical and far-reaching proposals. That had not happened to a great extent prior to the Minister of State's time in office.
I wonder if the sense of idealism still exists. Senator Ryan correctly referred to the manner in which people now look at politicians and local government. I am proud that this year marks the completion of 80 years of continuous service by my family in local government since my grandfather, the late Andrew Mooney, was elected to the 1920 council. He was succeeded by my late father who served for 43 years as a member of Leitrim County Council. Following his sudden death in 1988, I felt my mother, who had no great interest in politics but who had a tremendous interest in local community affairs, should seek the nomination before the next local election. She served with distinction for the remaining three years before I was fortunate to be elected a member of Leitrim County Council. I hope that my contribution over the past eight years in my area will be recognised adequately by the electorate.
I feel a sense of history in this august body because I represent continuity. Many families have a similar continuity and there is nothing wrong with that. There is no problem with people following their fathers or mothers into the family firm, but if it involves politics there is a problem. The former Deputy, Senator Coogan, contributed in the same way.
We are on the verge of the new millennium and proposals are before us for a new radical council structure. I hope these proposals will presage an era of stronger rather than weaker local government. I hope those elected to the councils for the start of the new millennium will have not only the same type of idealism and aspirations as their forebears but also a greater level of power at local level which has been eroded to a great extent over the past 25 years. I look forward to an exciting new era in local government and I welcome the debate. I hope the White Paper to which the Minister of State referred is taken off the shelf, dusted off and forms the basis of future discussions.
I wish to contribute to the debate because approximately 90 per cent of the Members of the House are elected by county councillors. I was proud to serve as a member of a council from 1974 until 1985. During that period I also served as chairman for a year.
Councils represent democracy at work. I was told on one occasion that after the Act relating to county managers was introduced in 1926 or 1927, the structure of county councils could be compared to that of public companies. The ratepayers were the shareholders who voted for the county councillors. They were the directors and the chief executive was the county manager who acted as the boss. Although it is not all about the shareholders or ratepayers now, the system has worked along those lines and it is still the norm.
As other Members said, 90 per cent of local councillors are the footsoldiers of their respective political parties. Whenever there is an election, county and urban councillors and corporation members are to the forefront. I first got to know county councillors during by-elections when they came from all over the country to work on behalf of their party. Local councillors do much work for their political parties.
Over the years complaints have been made about the remuneration of county councillors. They are as much full-time politicians as Deputies and Senators. They are invited to every function in their parish, region and electoral division but they do not receive any remuneration for attending and they are castigated if they are not present. It is unfortunate that the work of coun cillors does not receive more recognition even in terms of public relations at functions. All Members are aware of the functions to which they are invited, such as the turning on of a water scheme. This may only involve 20 houses in a parish but they must attend.
From my experience, the managements of county councils do not listen to councillors. At meetings of my council, up to 60 motions could be on the agenda. They were proposed, debated and passed but little happened subsequently. When I proposed a motion regarding major improvements to the Tralee to Dingle road, the council approved it but the road is still in the same condition. These decisions are passed on to the county managers but they do not act on them. They do their own thing and keep us happy.
Criticism of the council management is not accepted. The Acting Chairman, Senator Dan Kiely, will recall the day I took over the chair of Kerry County Council. In my maiden speech I set out what I hoped would be done over the following year. At that time, delay in the decision-making process on local authority loans was an issue. I said there were two cases which were going on for three years and that I would not accept that sort of carry on while I was chairman. Prior to the next meeting a week later – the Acting Chairman, Senator Kiely will remember this – I received a notice that my privileges as a county councillor were being withdrawn. Deputy Healy-Rae was a councillor at the time and supported me on that day. Both of us were singled out and for one and a half years everything we did and said in the council was not accepted and was ignored. One and a half years later after many cover-ups it was finally resolved. It came out that the decision process for local authority loans was not happening.
In the decision-making process, the chairman of the council should be treated in the same manner as the chairman of any company. A chairman of BIM does not only keep order at a meeting. There is an idea that the chairman of a council is only there to keep the boys quiet. That is not my idea of chairmanship. My idea of chairmanship involves strong decisions on running the county for the year.
I commend all those in councils who, over the years, served on a voluntary basis. Until now they have not received the remuneration or the credit they deserve. I hope the Minister keeps that in mind in his future reviews.
I thank Senator Fitzgerald for sharing his time with me and I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this important issue. As other Senators have stated, it is far too seldom that we have the opportunity to celebrate democracy and those involved. It is an enormous responsibility. People have given much time and energy and made family and personal sacrifices in the pursuit of local and national democracy. Too often we allow ourselves to be the butt of jokes about self-serving politicians when the opposite is the case. It is high time we spoke out about the good work and altruism in serving the community and the country, particularly at local level. Local level is where the real work is done. Very few councillors do not put in long hours in the evenings and over the weekend. They try to get time off from work to attend meetings and then they have to make up for that by working overtime. It is all done in an unpaid capacity.
One hundred years of local government in Ireland deserves celebration on the basis it was the first time we had a true franchise which extended to all people rather than those with property. It constituted the foundation of democracy in this country on a universal basis. Regardless of what people say, it was the beginning of the people being in charge of running of the country, as distinct from having an elitist oligarchy or interest group in charge as had been the case. It laid the foundations for the new State. Many people who later appeared on the national stage cut their teeth at community level in local politics. They gained the experience of chairing meetings, speaking in public and articulating policies, ideas and issues and this served them well in the foundation and running of the State.
It is interesting to note that at the time it was on an all-Ireland basis. I am sure it was an oversight that only county councils are mentioned in the motion. The borough councils were established at the same time and they operated in the same fashion. The entire country was covered. In the context of the Good Friday Agreement it would be worthwhile exploring that area of co-operation. Perhaps in the next millennium we could explore linkages at local government level, whether in the North or the South. We could find there is much in common within local democracy. We should extend it further in the context of the Council of the Isles to bring in Scotland, Wales, England and some islands to consider areas of community co-operation and local government. That would be very valuable.
We have a unique system whereby Senators are elected by county and borough councillors. That form of national democracy and public representation is unique to this country. That one House of the Oireachtas is selected almost exclusively by the representatives of people at local level is a very welcome and important element in national democracy. It is an excellent chain of representation. In that context, councillors should see their role not only in terms of being service providers but also as policy makers. They should use this House more for legislative purposes so there could be a direct channel from local authorities to this House on issues which need to be raised and addressed. There is scope which has not been used to the degree it could.
I also welcome the prospect of constitutional recognition. The Minister expressed that expec tation in his speech when he stated that after 11 June we will have constitutional recognition.
We are hoping for it.
The Minister can look into a crystal ball and see it.
We will have it with the consent of the people.
With the people's consent there will be constitutional recognition following the referendum in June.
This centenary is important. So much has been done at local government level and there is much more which we will begin to address at the end of the year with consolidation legislation and the constitutional referendum. I hope real decision making powers will be transferred from the county and borough managers to elected representatives.
Ócáid stairiúil í seo: táimid ag comóradh céad bliain den Acht a bhunaigh na húdaráis áitiúila. Mo bhuíochas le gach Seanadóir a labhair inniu faoin méid dul chun cinn atá déanta sa tír faoi na húdaráis áitiúla. Glacaim go bhfuil sé mar aidhm ag gach páirtí sa Dáil go mbeadh córas rialtais áitiúil níos éifeachtaí againn amach anseo, le cumhachtaí breise agus páirt níos mó acu i saol an ghnáthdhuine.
Question put and agreed to.
Sitting suspended at 1.30 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.