A chara, – A Leavy argues "that we have too many politicians relative to our population" (July 16th). He produces no evidence to support this assertion and it is untrue.
Following the abolition of town councils, we now have 949 local councillors (there was a net reduction of 678 local councillors at the last local elections). That works out at about one councillor for every 4,800 people. This is far higher than in other European countries, including the UK (1:2,900), the Netherlands (1:1,700), Denmark (1:1,200), Belgium (1:800), Spain (1:620), Germany (1:420) and France (1:120).
We also have the most centralised system of decision-making with weak local government structures in comparison to the rest of Europe. Yet local councils are often the way in which citizens most closely engage with political structures.
I would argue that we need more politicians at a local level to better serve local communities but that can only happen with the real devolution of powers to local councils.
Mr Leavy goes on to argue that “the media and academia” conspired to convince “ordinary people” to maintain the Seanad. Most of the arguments made were to retain the Seanad but to significantly reform it, and in any event, the “ordinary people” made the decision, not any elite groups.
Politics is a noble profession and requires a lot of hard work and commitment. Political reform is essential, however, to make our systems work better and to ensure that becoming a politician, and contributing through public service, is an attractive option for smart people in all walks of life. Simplistic calls to reduce the numbers of politicians will not achieve this. – Is mise,
Cllr MALCOLM BYRNE,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.