The boundary alterations between Cork City Council and Cork County Council have the potential to cause major financial strain for Cork County Council. Report after report was presented to the public in the past few years to try to sell this plan. When others and I read the reports more closely, it was obvious that the plan had the potential to have catastrophic consequences for west Cork and the county generally. I immediately called on my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group to table a motion in the Dáil against implementation of the plan. In spite of receiving support from Deputies from counties Kerry, Tipperary, Clare, Galway and Dublin, I received no support from any Dáil Deputy from Cork. Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Independent Alliance Deputies all voted down the motion as party leaders and deputy leaders cracked the Whip, forcing many to turn their backs on their own constituency in return for a promised compensation package that we were told would be put in place for the county for ten years. At a meeting held in the council chambers on 13 September, to which all Oireachtas Members were invited, we discovered that a new wording was being proposed for the package. It looks like it will not be for ten years but will instead be reviewed sometime in the first three. It could happen in the first two months. By law the city council will not be compelled to pay compensation which may well lead to a legal suit between the two local authorities in the not-so-distant future, which would have further serious consequences. In their thousands, the people of Ballincollig signed petitions about not being forced inside the city boundaries. It also looks like the people of Blarney and Tower will be forced inside the city boundaries against their will. The people of west Cork, where I have seen seven businesses close in the past few weeks, are completely against the plan. However, democracy has been kicked out the window in order to force the plan down people's throats. The county council voted unanimously against this happening, but the extension of the city boundaries is being railroaded through, notwithstanding the fact that every honest politician in Cork knows how rural communities will see a major loss of commercial rates, development charges and property tax revenue.

At a special meeting of Cork County Council for all Oireachtas Members on 13 September the newly worded proposals were rejected by those Members present as shockingly bad, with serious consequences for the whole county. In the two meetings held by Cork County Council to advise Members of the Oireachtas of the consequences for the county, the non-attendance of the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Micheál Martin, sent a clear message to me and the councillors present that they ignored their councillors on the ground and favoured a boundaries extension which would throw the whole county to the wolves. Opposition to our motion 12 months ago indicated that some senior party members had forced the Whip on their Deputies to vote against the motion. In other words, they forced their own Deputies to vote against their own constituency, which was nothing short of shameful, but it is not too late. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene personally where others have not and sideline the boundaries extension until all potential disasters have been explored. They have been overlooked to date. I ask him to follow in the steps of my fellow west Corkman, General Michael Collins, and govern for the country, rural and urban. He must not allow politicians who are not acting in the interests of all the people to win out.

It is nothing to laugh about.

The scriptwriter did well.

I thank Deputy Michael Collins for raising this issue, which is of great interest in Cork, city and county. The Government supports the proposed redrawing of the boundaries for Cork city and county councils. We are ambitious for Cork, which is our southern capital and second city. We want the population of Cork to grow by at least 50% by 2040. We want the population of Cork to grow twice as fast as that of Dublin between now and then. We are willing to stand behind the city in the case of any structural development required to ensure that will happen. We see Cork as part of an Atlantic economic corridor stretching to Limerick, Galway and beyond and acting as an alternative pole of development to the greater Dublin region. That is very much at the centre of the Government's balanced regional development policy and ambition. We see Cork as a university city and industry hub, with a developing airport and rapidly expanding port. We see it having its own directly elected mayor in a few years to provide the city with a strong personality at its helm who will hold executive powers.

We acknowledge absolutely that this is a change and that all changes and reforms are difficult.

In some cases, and it will be the case in other counties, it may result in a loss in revenue, in this case a loss in revenue to the county from property tax and certain business rates. There will, therefore, be a compensation package. Compensation is necessary to ensure the county area does not lose out and we continue to be able to invest in the many large towns, small towns and villages throughout County Cork. I have every confidence that this will be worked out between the two councils and with the Minister.

The Taoiseach does not seem to grasp the consequences of this issue for County Cork. Can he tell me the amount of revenue that will be lost to Cork county in the next five to ten years if this plan is implemented? Can he tell me what services will be lost? The mayor of Cork County Council and his colleagues will travel to Dublin on Thursday to try to get an understanding from the politicians here of how serious it would be if this plan were implemented. If the Taoiseach cannot withdraw the plan, can he at least ensure it is written into law that no review can take place of the package for the county for ten years and that the city council will have to pay each year, as previously proposed?

I call the Taoiseach to conclude on this matter.

It is not intended that any services will be lost. People living in Cork county will continue to receive the services from their local authority that they receive now. In terms of revenue, there will need to be a compensation package. This must be worked out. It is the case that as a result of areas moving from what is now the county into the city, commercial rates could be lost to the county. Those areas will also transfer, however, and the cost of providing the services in them will no longer fall to the county but to the city, so expenditure will fall as well. As I said, this was done very successfully in Limerick, as will be the case when a similar process follows in Galway. There will be a compensation package to ensure that this transition can happen seamlessly and that services and the financial stability of the county are protected. The Deputy has my assurance on that.