I, too, thank the Seanad staff, particularly for the help, assistance and mentoring, to some degree, I received when I came here.

In recent days I have received a number of telephone calls from councillors around the country, all referring to three basic issues, namely, entitlement to sick pay, the negative impact on household incomes of full-time councillors with no other income and the unfair treatment of lone parents and child care issues.

Last week we were told the councillors' representative bodies, the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, and the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, had met the Ministers. Councillors were e-mailed by Members of this House advising them that the meetings had been constructive and that a get-together was planned between the AILG and the LAMA in advance of further engagement. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, advised the representative bodies that budgetary issues were always present, but that the briefing he had received from the representative bodies would inform his position when proposals were received from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Regarding the class K PRSI issue, the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection told the representative bodies that PRSI classification was a complex issue and asked the AILG for proposals which would give his staff a basis on which to negotiate on the regulatory and financial issues involved. In all of the reports from the various meetings that took place I cannot see any record of a discussion on the key issues involved. What is the status of office holders who are not elected representatives and how does it compare with the treatment of councillors? There is no sick pay for councillors, whereas there is for most office holders, including Members of the House. Class K PRSI is a tax. Can anybody show me one benefit that derives from the figure of 4% that councillors pay? I ask the Cathaoirleach to indulge me for a few moments, given that this is an important issue. Unlike many in this House who will walk away after the next general election well provided for, to what can a councillor look forward? Do we even provide a contributory old age pension for them? We do not. From the recent talks, I see no plan of action, only vague language and soft talk to pacify. Why is the councillors' representational payment subject to tax when, in theory, it should be treated in the same way as the Senators' parliamentary standard allowance of €12,225 which is tax free to cover various expenses?

There is a motion on the Order Paper dealing with that issue.

I realise that, but the motion has not been taken. I am receiving calls from people who are sick and have no income because they are councillors. Last night I received a call from a councillor who, as a lone parent, had lost all of her welfare payments because she was a councillor. It is not good enough and all we are offering is soft talk. Everybody in the House has been in contact with councillors telling them how committed we are to dealing with their issues, but action speaks louder than words. It is time for us to put up or shut up. I have asked for the Minister to come to the House. Negotiating in a back room or in silence is nonsense. We need the Minister to come here. He writes the regulations and can change them at the stroke of a pen. We need this to happen. I, therefore, ask the Leader to arrange it immediately after we return in the next session. We will all seek the support of councillors during the next election and I sincerely hope I am not one of the Senators who will walk away with a lump sum having failed to secure their votes.

We all echo Senator Gerard P. Craughwell’s sentiments and every Member is working hard to ensure the Minister will take the issue on board and address some of the Senator's points.

I join in the condemnation of the appalling act of terrorism that took place yesterday on the Turkish-Syrian border. The young people killed were doing nothing more than working for their community in trying to rebuild the city of Kobani. It was a real community effort. It is beyond time the international community and world leaders addressed the ongoing threat posed by ISIS. The appalling situation in Syria, the unfortunate people of which are being barrel-bombed on a daily basis and starved into submission by the Assad regime, must be addressed as a matter of urgency. I am pleased that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, announced yesterday that Ireland would take in 600 migrants as part of the European Union's response to the Mediterranean migration crisis.

I commend the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, for designating today, 21 July, as National Farm Safety Awareness Day. It is a call to action to farm families to take time out to review their farm safety measures and undertake a farm safety risk assessment. I call on every farmer and farm family to review the risks on their farms and put in place control measures to deal with them. The IFA has published a very fine farm safety risk assessment planner which every family should examine, given that far too many families have been bereaved in recent years as a result of farm accidents of various type. Let this be the day farm families take the issue of farm safety seriously. It follows on from the excellent work done in the Seanad to highlight it. I hope we can continue to keep it on the agenda in order that no more lives will be lost as a result of carelessness on farms.

I support Senator Gerard P. Craughwell's comments on the need to have a proper debate on councillors' remuneration, their role in public life and representational role in Irish democracy. For people to pay PRSI contributions and have no entitlement to sick pay, any other form of social welfare payment or a pension in later years is wrong. The position must be clarified.

We should have the Minister here in the autumn to discuss this very important issue. I would go further and say an opportunity was missed during the crisis of the past three to four years to reform the way we do politics in this country. There is a need to move national politicians away from local issues and give councillors more autonomy, proper resources and secretarial backup in order to carry out their duties on the ground. We should allow national politicians to deal with national issues and scrutinise legislation properly and have the proper political oversight that so many who are now in government spoke about when things went belly-up as a result of the building boom. I believe we missed an opportunity and are depriving councillors of the real and substantive role they should have.

I ask that we have a debate in advance of the budget. We might even come back one week early and have a number of debates on spending and income in each Department. We should be able to come up with some novel ideas on where we can generate additional income for the State, given what we are looking to spend. Whether we are contemplating a levy on the profits of the banks or the multinationals, or dealing with the issue of generic medicines within the Department of Health, which is costing millions of euro, we should have a debate on some of those issues ahead of the budget. I ask the Leader that, if we cannot come back a week early, we at least sit additional days in September and get the respective Ministers into this House well ahead of any budget decisions by the Minister for Finance. I hope this request will be facilitated. If the Leader indicates today that he was amenable to this, at least Members who want to contribute could do some preparatory work over the summer recess.

I wish the staff and all Members a lovely summer. I hope we get the sunshine. I wish them all a nice break, as I am sure it will be a busy autumn when we come back.