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Seanad
‹ An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Councillors' security allowance

Summary

Senator Davitt asked for the Minister of State on local government to attend and sought clarity on the newly moved security allowance for councillors.

I ask the Deputy Leader to call the Minister of State with responsibility for local government, John Cummins, to the House. A topic I had discussed and have been working on for quite a while is the security allowance for councillors. I am delighted there has been movement on it. I praise the Minister of State and the senior line Minister, James Browne, on this. Much of it has been aired in the media so far. The various councillors are asking us questions about the circular and looking for the nitty-gritty details, but we do not have the exact answers. We could do with a bit of clarity on it. We could delve through the detail in it. It would be worthwhile to bring the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, to the House to talk about his good news announcement so we can get it rolled out with the councillors. This came about on foot of the serious concerns of gardaí regarding security for elected representatives. I am delighted the Minister of State has followed up and is taking this seriously. It is a worthwhile debate. We should have it soon; next week if possible or, if not, when we return in the autumn.

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