Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One of my questions was going to be on the revenue and the costs, which is an impossible question for any of us to even attempt to answer without knowing what the actual role will be. The enormity of ambition is undermined by the actual practicalities of trying to do this. Ms Feeney made a very interesting suggestion that there is not actually a need for a plebiscite. Following that pattern of thought, is there an argument that we should consider that in trying to introduce a directly elected mayor to Dublin, we should do it on a phased basis and maybe one local authority to start with and use that experience to define the role, responsibilities, and the budget? Limerick has a population of approximately 200,000. Is there an argument to be made to start with Dublin city, for the sake of argument, and over a ten-year period, establish a directly elected mayor, define the role, devolve the responsibilities, assign the budget, and give the powers? If that model can be established and proven, then there is a model that can be replicated. Would Ms Feeney come back on that?