We are talking about the erosion of power in local authorities, and it is important that we put things in context at the very outset. I do not believe any government or Member of this House, or the Lower House has any interest in disempowering local authorities, but what we do have is a Civil Service that is interested in disempowering local authorities and moving more and more decision-making into the Custom House and the like. It is no secret among my colleagues here that the Council of Europe regards the local authority system in Ireland as one of the weakest in Europe right now. Our representative bodies are LAMA and the AILG. We are elected by county councillors and, as such, they are our constituency, and we should be supporting them. Quite frankly, they are extremely concerned about the disempowerment of local authorities and the sidelining of the people on the ground who have the first point of contact with citizens within the areas where they live.
As a result of an invitation from the Leader of the House and the Leas-Chathaoirleach we had local authority members in here from the regions who all made their points very strongly. There are a number of serious areas that my colleague has mentioned. The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill is before the House. I know that is not the area of responsibility of the Minister of State, but I ask him to engage with the Minister on it. It is outrageous to think that the power of local authority members would be reduced within policing authorities. I know we are moving to a new structure but the real people we need are those who are on the ground, who know what is happening and the individuals in the areas around them. The Minister of State will recall himself how the local authority played a huge part in cleaning up Limerick back in the bad old days when we had some pretty tough people in the town. Limerick has turned out to be a fantastic place since. In fact, it should be a model for cities and counties around the country for how we can tackle crime. It was done by local authority members, supported by Members of this House. I know that because I was involved with them at the time. I know the work the Minister of State put in and the work put in by local authority members. By disempowering them, first and foremost, we now find – I believe this is the case in the political parties, and while I cannot be sure I am told anecdotally – that people no longer want to run for or be involved in local authorities because they see no benefit to it.
I remember in 2014 when I first came into this House and I took on the issue of councillors’ pay, a former colleague told me that we do not do that on the floor of the House, we do it quietly in the corridors. We do do it on the floor of the House. We tackle the difficult issues on the floor of the House, and we should never be afraid to do that. The Minister of State and I have known each other a long time and I have never known him to be afraid to take on difficult issues. We need to stop the rot. We need to get behind local authority members.
In a very short time, even if the Government lasts for 15 months from now, we will be going back out to local authority members. Those who want to run for the Dáil will be looking for local authority members to get behind them and to get canvasses going in the various districts. There are some great people out there who will break their necks to help get people elected. I will spend the 90 days after that travelling the country and meeting every county councillor in the country. I will be able to do it with my head held high because I have never been shy about coming forward on the issues that concern them. I accept that the accusation that I was never a member of a local authority can be put against me, but I think my record will stand for itself when the time comes.
When we look at issues like security and the personal security of county councillors, I note that the amount of money for telephone and broadband has been reduced. Why, when I get an allowance to carry out parliamentary duties, is it called an allowance when it is a sum of money that is not subject to tax? When a county councillor gets an allowance, it is referred to as pay and it is liable to tax and insurance. In addition, we expect them to run their offices. The Minister of State and the Members of this House know the number of people who come up to us, as elected representatives, looking for us to support this or that charity. The money we give our county councillors is a pittance compared with the value they deliver in their communities.
Councillors have to fight hard to get security for their homes, particularly women. Politics in general is not woman friendly. I see the women in this House. The Minister who was in the House earlier had the courage to take maternity leave. Fair play to her, and I think she is the first in the country to do it. We should have a system in place where female members of local authorities who have had a child can watch from home and vote from home. That is what cherishing county councillors would be about. That is what giving them power would be about.
Councillors should be involved in planning. I wonder where we are going with respect to disempowerment in the context of planning.
I could spend what is left of my time slagging off colleagues and saying they are doing nothing for the people. I do not believe that anybody in this House is doing nothing for the people who elect them. They try their damnedest. However, we are caught in the sights of the bureaucrats who want to control everything. Then, when we go out to the council itself, we find that councillors in some councils – a very small few, I will agree – are facing up to the extremely powerful bureaucrats who do things their way. We have to get back to empowering our county councillors to make them feel valued and to make them know that they are running local democracy.
I have a system in my house. If someone calls to my door and complains about dustbins, roundabouts or whatever else, as I am a national politician, I cannot help them. I will give them a list of county councillors to whom they talk and who can help. That is the way it should be. I should not be stepping into the Dáil as that is not my business. It is not where I am. I am in the Seanad, and this is where I should be. We need to go back, recalibrate politics and give power to the people where they are and where they lie. Our job here is to scrutinise legislation and that is what we should be doing. We should not be meddling in the TDs’ area, and they should not be meddling in the area of county councillors.
I want to see our councillors cherished and empowered. I want to see us take steps to ensure that county councillors are not regarded as cannon fodder to be used at elections and nothing else. I have known the Minister of State for a long time. I am of the view that he will agree with me at the end of the day. I know he is sponsoring some very strong people in the upcoming local elections, some very good friends of mine, who I am sure will do extremely well when the time comes. I will leave it at that.