Radical changes can take place

LOCAL government must be overhauled because it is not fit for purpose in its current state.

One of the most important pillars of any democratic system of government is local government.

It is a bulwark for local democracy and safeguards against central dominance. It also provides services locally and efficiently.

Consecutive governments have used so-called local government reform as a smoke-screen to further undermine local democracy and centralise power. Currently councils are stifled by limited powers and under-funding.

This can be attributed by the pact parties which have dominated the council chamber for years.

This has led to sidelining and the exclusion of elected representatives who do not fit within the pact system.

Recent years have seen the powers of councillors being eroded, particularly in areas such as planning, housing, transport, roads, waste management, and now water as well.

It is worth noting that this erosion has all taken place while Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Labour have been at the helm in government.

But it does not have to be like this as radical changes can take place along with savings.

Sinn Féin supports a directly elected mayor for city and county councils. The role of mayor would be centred on representation, governance, oversight, and policy development.

Powers would be devolved from central government and from city and county managers to the council and would include environment, housing, transport, and waste management.

The mayor would be ex-officio member of each strategic policy group (SPG) and chair of the corporate policy group.

Failing to have a directly elected mayor, as promised by previous governments, in time for the next local elections would see more of the same spoils of office being divided out.

An alternative would be a d’Hondt system — a formula for allocating positions in elected bodies on a fair and proportionate basis.

This process would replace the current situation where the major parties take all the positions on committees.

It continues to be used in the Stormont Assembly to ensure all parties are represented at cabinet and committee level.

The d’Hondt system should be applied to all SPGs, council committees and positions of authority on councils, and on outside boards where the council is represented. Chairs of area committees should be assigned on a rotating basis.

In order to ensure inclusiveness, a single exercise of d’Hondt should be run following council elections, including all posts for the entire period of that council, including those posts where the holder changes annually, along with all outside posts.

This would maximise the number of positions available and maximise the opportunity for smaller parties and independents to fill posts of responsibility.

In the wake of recent elections the people expressed their desire for change but, in fact, the status quo remains as it does in Cork City Council.

The question that must be asked is whether they have acted in the greater good or for personal gains?

With the Cork lord mayor’s salary increasing over the years to €120,700 per annum along with the other packages amounting to almost €235,000 per annum, one would have to consider the real motives and considerations.

Sinn Féin has continuously called on the lord mayor of Cork’s payment to be reduced to €35,000.

The lord mayor of Belfast earns just €55,000 a year — less than half of their Cork counterpart.

Such extravagance to fund the office in Cork would be sickening even at the best of times.

However, we are in an era in which council’s services have been severely cut, elderly tenants are being denied basic maintenance to their homes and are unfit for use putting people’s lives at risk.

The expenditure on the office of lord mayor is an insult to people who are constantly force-fed the line that there is no alternative to cuts because the state is insolvent.

The handover of the mayoral chain is a cartel-like agreement with the three establishment parties.

This is surely not at all what the ethos of the office demands. It’s time that the process was changed.

* Sinn Féin Cllr Chris O’Leary is the leader of the party’s group on Cork City Council.