Cllrs should stop spamming the comments section with copy and paste press releases. Summarise it man!

To borrow a well worn phrase ‘a lot done more to do…’ I wouldn’t have left it at 31… 10-15 should be more than sufficient…

Can’t lend any credence to FF complaining as they empowered an inflated the clowns in the first place

Lets be honest..the councillors that are not happy with it and that’s for one reason only. The gravy trains has come to a stop. No more easy money for doing f**k all. I cannot stand Phil Hogan, i wouldn’t let him put me out if i was on fire. But i think this is a good idea.

So basically the only people complaining are FF, Sein Fein and the Green party….

……. Sounds promising

There’s still a Green Party, thought they were extinct? :-)

Where is Micheal Lowery these days – not a whisper. He will be scheming now that this reform is being introduced. It means he has less people to corrupt and makes life simpler for him.

First of all it remains to be seen if this is actually carried out but less politicians ? It’s a start. Now do the same in the Senate and the Dail. My only concern is how much will be spent on lump sums in compensation.

Messenger apart this looks to be a step in the right direction. Saying that, It’s hard not to feel sorry for those decent Public Servants who may lose their jobs. The majority of these have done nothing wrong other than accept jobs offered to them and be absorbed into an inflated public service but this overhaul, should it actually occur, is well overdue.

The majority of our National TDs learn their trade on the local councils. In this environment using their influence to secure permission for neighbours, obtaining funding for projects that may not be income generating and making the most appearances at funerals of people you don’t know are the Key Performance Indicators of success. None of these skills are especially relevant when National Policy, developing trade/infrastructure conditions for economic growth and structural reform is what this country is calling out for.

Outside of the immediate cost saving these reforms would give it’s also notable to recognize that this pushes the focus further away for local and on to National.

Phil Hogan hasn’t had a great run of form since coming into office but it’s important he manages to to see this through. Let’s hope he doesn’t get distracted by the potholes down Carlow/Kilkenny way!

the fool Hogan should be long gone…..

Cowen: ‘another major opportunity wasted by a Government that promised real reform and was given an unprecedented mandate to deliver it’.

My translation: FF were given the bums rush for wrecking the country. The party was decimated and a strong mandate given to the new government.Therefore, FG and Lab should change things overnight

My response: Yourself and the brother have no mandate to do anything other than go up to Dublin for the odd day out and bring back a few bits and pieces of shopping for your local constituents and your pension payers. Stick to that lads and we’ll all be happy

Finally, smaller government , less red tape, hopefully the seanad gets abolished too

Putting People First. Where in the name of Christ do they come up with the titles for these initiatives???
Would Bertie have dared release something as cheesy as that? No he’d have called it ‘community management initiative 2012’ & I’d have eaten it up. Where’s the showmanship people? It’s just so ordinary.
Everything about this government is meat & two veg in a three-bed semi with magnolia walls in a commuter suburb. Where’s the rock & roll? Sex it up! Show some charisma. Despite all our bitching on FF, at least they put on a f*cking show!!! And despite what they like to think, politics is a show. It is celebrity & it does require being liked; sorry Enda.

I’ve no objection to this idea though, or any of their ideas really. It’s just their delivery is so awful I can’t separate the wood from the trees! Like Leo on the bus this week; give me strength. Enda anywhere near a child- makes my actual skin crawl. James Reilly’s existence; same story. Joan Burton- shes better on radio, lets be honest. Ruairi Quinn has that unlikeable air about him & poor Eamonn Gilmore drags himself around like Enda’s bitch and if you’re going to be anyone’s bitch, let it be someone with a bit more street cred than Enda Kenny you know??? Please tell me I’m not the only one!!!!

When the councils are wound down I doubt if there will be any redundancies ,I expect people with loyalties to the last crowd will simply be moved to lesser roles,making them even less productive.we are unable to see the big picture,we must ask ourselves very simple questions,what is the purpose of these services ,all the services of the state? And how can we make them as effective as possible operating on a shoe string.half a shoestring in fact.but Cllr Buckley has illustrated our collective problem excellently,the people who represent us are always talking and saying very little,personally I think everyone in these roles should be simply relieved of their duties,the purpose of councils are simple things like sewage ,fresh water ,power ,sign posts,and taking care of those who can’t care for themselves,these services seem to be put on the back burner constantly because of beurocracy,I think I spelled that wrong but hey it doesn’t matter does it.

Three more years of Fine Gael and people will be spending 2 months salary on a property tax.
I say this: don’t vote for Fine Gael or Fianna Fail – they will sell you out.

Sinn Fein will abolish this property tax. At least that’s sensible.

He did this in order to quiet the House Hold charge fiasco.

Cllr Gearóid Buckley has welcomed today’s announcement that Local Government is to be reformed.

‘Today’s announcement marks a new dawn for local governance in Ireland. Since the beginning of the state Local Government has meant very different realities for each town and community with a huge disparity between different towns and counties.’

‘The principle of Municipal Districts is to be welcomed. Take Bandon for example. Its town boundary does not take into account the town’s entire urban area with areas such as Old Chapel and Rosewood excluded from the remit of the Town Council. We need to recognise that urban sprawl has transformed rural areas and we need new structures to reflect this change. Consider towns such as Ballincollig and Glanmire which have no local structures outside of direct county council supervision.’

‘Furthermore, some towns are further hampered by a clear under representation at county council level. Bandon’s Town Council is a former Town Commission (a town where commercial rates and charges collected are sent to their county council) and thus do not have a budget to complete any necessary projects by themselves. As a result we need to go cap in hand to Cork County Council and request funding for many local initiatives. In addition to this, three County Councillors represent Bandon, Kinsale and every community between on Cork County Council. This is in stark contrast to the Western Division of Cork County Council where Clonakilty and Skibbereen have full rateable councils (previously known as Urban District Councils) and also have far more county council seats (seven) in those areas. Bandon has been at a great disadvantage for years and these reforms will bring balance to this democratic deficit.’

‘Now Bandon will have a Municipal District with a minimum of seven Councillors and because representation will be based on population we will have equal representation to every other community in the country.’

‘I believe Municipal Authorities will also enable a more strategic approach to economic growth. Global local governance benchmarking trends use this model to implement clear economic objectives which define and utilise the unique micro and macro environmental factors of their regions. This has been reinforced by today’s plans as it states that local authorities will have a specific role in relation to economic development and enterprise support.’

‘The new Local Enterprise Offices and the position of Customer Services Officer are an acknowledgement of the need for change in economic development and how council staff deal with the public. Developments such asfixmystreet.ie and approved service plans will take local government into the 21st century with an efficient model which will effectively help people with their concerns.’

‘This new local government reform strategy will be judged not on how many councils are abolished, or how much savings we can make on the public pay bill, but instead on the success of the devolution of power from civil servants to public representatives. Over the past number of years county councils have centralised power and as a result local government has suffered. The new changes will shift the authority to the members and give elected representatives both more responsibility and more power.’

‘There have been attempts in the past to reform Local Government, however none have brought the necessary reforms to create an effective local government system. In 2001 the Local Government Act provided us with an optical illusion. For example changing Bandon’s Town Commission’s name to Bandon Town Council and this hasn’t revolutionised local democracy in our town, so it is clear real reforms are necessary.’

‘Of course the devil of this plan will be in its detail and implementation, however for somebody who can see the many flaws in our current system, I am very hopeful that we will see a new beginning for local democracy.’

This may help stop the likes of Oisin Quinn trying to benefit from lobbying his fellow councillors for favourable decisions in planning. Labour have a lot to do as this guy tarnished the party and his fellow Labour councillors.