Councillors pay and Moorhead report
Senator Davitt objected to leaks about councillors' pay and conditions and criticised the Government's handling of the unreleased Moorhead report. He argued the matter was being pushed into a commission without proper transparency.
I am concerned that we are going to read a lot of the news that we are going to hear in the media before it is Government policy. It seems to be the way of things nowadays. The leak that came out this morning related to councillors' pay and conditions, which is a matter close to the Leas-Chathaoirleach's heart. Many of us here are quite animated about it. A great deal of work has been done in recent years. I understand the Moorhead report will not be released today. Much of its contents seem to be known. All that is missing is the circulation of the report. It has been suggested that the recommendation will be lumped in with another review of pay and conditions. Up to now, this was not part of the agreement with councillors, who have had a long-outstanding entitlement in respect of their pay and conditions. There has been a lengthy review. This process has gone on for years. The effect of the mealy-mouthed statement we are hearing at this stage is that it is great that there will be a pay increase, and we are happy about that, but-----
Comment on this
-----we are going to push it into a commission and see what we get out of it. It is just not good enough to say, "We will turn it in there and see what comes out at the end of it." The Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth.
Comment on this
I am not in favour of this approach. I am sure the Leas-Chathaoirleach shares my view.