Councillors’ pay and conditions
Senator Craughwell asks whether motions on councillors’ employment terms will be debated before the general election; the Cathaoirleach clarifies that he is seeking information, not proposing an amendment.
We see Members of this House make representations regularly on behalf of their constituents or those of Dáil geographic areas. I will make one for my constituency which is also that of the Cathaoirleach and those in this House. No. 75 on the Clár, motions Nos. 7 and 10, Private Members' business, deal specifically with the terms and conditions of employment of city and county councillors. We will all be out on the hustings in the next couple of weeks or months seeking the support of city and county councillors to re-elect us to this House and we cannot face them without at least doing them the courtesy of pursuing one of these motions. I suggest motion No. 10, tabled by the Government and with an amendment by me and Senators Sean D. Barrett, Feargal Quinn and David Norris. It is the very least we can do and if we are not going to do it, I ask the Leader to explain why. I have no fear of facing the country and standing up for the people I represent and who represent their localities. I have no fear whatsoever about fighting their corner for them. If we are not going to have the debate before the general election, I need to know why and I would like to be able to tell them why.
Comment on this
I am not. I want to know if we are going to have that debate before the general election.