A Tipperary South county councillor has claimed that local democracy could be undermined by threats of legal action against councillors for decisions taken in good faith.
Mr Niall Dennehy of Fianna Fail proposed at a meeting of the council this month that members be indemnified against any liability arising from decisions taken in the course of their duties as public representatives.
A number of councillors supported the idea, and it was agreed to refer the motion to the General Council of County Councils, a national body representing county and city councillors.
The issue of councillors' liability arose in Cork last year when members of the council voted to rescind the ESB's planning permission to erect pylons on Cork Harbour, despite a warning by officials that they were leaving themselves open to being personally sued by the ESB.
Mr Dennehy said his motion was inspired, not only by what had happened in Cork, but by his own experiences as a member of the county council and Clonmel Corporation. There were two occasions when he felt the threat of legal action might have inhibited councillors from acting in a particular way.
One of these concerned a Section 4 motion in which he and other councillors were seeking to prevent the county manager from going ahead with the provision of a Travellers' halting site until further consultations with residents. The other was a rezoning issue dealt with by the corporation.
In both cases there was advice from officials that the councillors could leave themselves open to legal action. "My concern is that individual councillors might be inhibited from acting in conscience and good faith. The potential is there for that to happen."
While a number of councillors supported the thrust of Mr Dennehy's motion, they were advised by officials of the council that there was no prospect of an insurance company providing the kind of indemnity suggested.
Effectively, it would involve asking an insurer to cover councillors for decisions taken even where advice was given by officials that what they were doing was illegal, council members were told. It was agreed, however, that the issue merited further discussion at national level.