All Fianna Fáil Senators are close to the local authority members and many of them had the honour of being elected to their local authority and representing their local communities. Land owned by the local authority cannot be disposed of but with the consent of its elected council members, who are elected by the local people and taxpayers who own land. Now, under section 58 of the Land Development Agency Bill, the Government wants to waive section 183 of the 2001 Act and remove the key function of local councillors.

I am all for local authority members and I am all for - never mind the diminution of powers from local authorities - adding to the powers of local authority members. The reality for many of us who have sat on a local authority, however, is that very few powers are available to the councillors and elected members of local authorities.

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