Labour Party withdraw from Committee Meeting after motion/speaking time cut threat

Issued : Tuesday 8 September, 2015

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Labour Party members have described attempts to limit the number of motions a councillor can submit to Council meetings, together with imposing an unworkable limit on speaking time, as completely undemocratic.

Labour Councillors withdrew from today’s Organisation, Procedure and Protocol Committee after attempts were made by the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail majority to limit councillor motions to one a month from three. Speaking time is also to be limited to just four minutes on motions for the entire meeting.

Cllr. Peter O’Brien described the move as “profoundly undemocratic.”

“Reducing motions from three to one a month is a clear attempt to minimise the contribution that councillors can make at council meetings. 

“Submitting motions on behalf of constituents is a vital part of a councillor’s work and is an excellent example of local democracy in action. To greatly reduce this ability is a clear attempt by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to limit our ability to do our work as public representatives.”

“We would call on Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to reconsider their respective positions and to adopt a more expansive view of local representation.”

“Local democracy is served best by having a robust system of accountability, it is not served by limiting the amount of motions a democratically elected local representative can place before a meeting or limit how long they can speak to an unworkable time limit,” said Cllr. O’Brien.

Cllr. O’Brien said the Labour Party grouping would be seeking legal opinion regarding today’s events with a view to strongly challenging the outcome.

ENDS