Councillors and county development plans
Senator Lombard argued councillors’ working hours during county development plan processes are excessive and deserve review. The Chair repeatedly ruled councillors were not an Order of Business matter, but the Senator continued to press the point.
Many Senators have raised issues regarding councillors and their conditions over the last year. I wish to raise the working hours of some councillors. Cork County Council recently went through the county development plan process, which is probably the most important process for councillors. They have direct input and direct votes and are very much involved in it.
Comment on this
I hesitate to remind the Senator, although I must, that councillors are not a matter for the Order of Business.
Comment on this
That never stopped the Leas-Chathaoirleach.
Comment on this
I do not recall what the Leader is referring to. I know Senator Lombard is dealing with the electoral system.
Comment on this
I thank the Leader for his kind interjection. What I was trying to get across was that the hours councillors work while they are going through a county development plan has to be looked at. What they did last week in Cork County Council was absolutely wrong in so many ways. Over a three-day period they sat for 34 hours. On the last day, they sat for 17 hours, from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., making one of the most important decisions for Cork and its development. When I was a member of Cork County Council in 2007, we started at 9 a.m. and finished at 6.30 a.m. the following morning. We worked for 21.5 hours straight.
The Minister has to intervene and put a regulation in place regarding working hours for councillors. It makes no sense that the most important plan that any local authority brings forward, the county development plan, should be put together by people working those extreme hours. One cannot make coherent decisions if one has been working for 17 hours straight. I have had members of the public on to me about this issue. It is a significant issue for the local authority members who have to work those hours, as well as in terms of the decisions they make. This is something they have five years to work on. It is not emergency legislation. It is not thrown upon them. It can be timed and worked out. The Minister with responsibility for local government has to put a regulation in place so that we do not have these exceptional and extreme working hours.