I wish to second Senator Humphrey's proposal for the Minister to come to the House regarding local government finances. There is a crisis in that regard. The issues in Dublin City Council became clear last night. It has a shortfall of €80 million. Several councillors on Waterford City and County Council contacted me today regarding the cost-neutral or benefit-neutral situation in respect of the assets of Irish Water and its rates liabilities. They were of the understanding that the Government would sort this out but it has not been resolved. This is a recurring theme across the country. I have been specifically asked by Waterford councillors who contacted my office to raise the matter with the Leader.

On an issue that is closer to home for the Leader, I spoke to four councillors who moved from Cork County Council to Cork City Council regarding their remuneration or, shall we say, their gratuity package and who is liable to pay for it. I spoke to officials in the Department to seek clarification. The issue of who is liable to pay these gratuities is of concern to the Department and the Minister. The four councillors, three of whom are aged over 50, are concerned about their gratuity. Two of them are Fine Gael councillors, one is a Fianna Fáil councillor and one is an Independent. This issue needs to be considered. I am not necessarily asking the Leader to bring the Minister to the House to discuss it. Does the Leader wish to say something?

I was not talking to the Senator. I did not say anything to him.

The Leader keeps commenting and I do not know what he is saying.

I was taking notes.

I am asking the Leader, given that his colleagues are listening in and that five or ten minutes before I came in here I said I would raise it with him-----

I have the text messages.

I ask him to use his influence, as I will use mine, with the Department and the Minister to deal with this. I concur with what other Senators, including Senator Horkan, said. It is time we addressed the issue of proper remuneration, fair pay and conditions and allowances for our city and county councillors.

And Senators.

It has gone on for too long. There have been too many promises. We are told there is a report sitting somewhere. No one seems to know where. We have a commitment that the Minister of State with responsibility for local government will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government next week to address the issue. I hope he will come here beforehand. The elected city and county councillors vote for us. We all made commitments. It is time we delivered on those commitments to these representatives who are practitioners of local democracy-----