Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for being here and sharing their expertise with us. It is disappointing we do not have any of the cathaoirligh or mayors of any of the four local authorities with us. If this goes ahead, it will have a huge impact on local democracy, local councillors and the offices of mayor and cathaoirleach. Unfortunately, they are not here to provide us with any insights from their perspective. Decisions are made by those who show up, as elected politicians will be aware. It kind of boils down to Councillor Feeney to represent councillors, so I thank her for being here.

Regarding the local authorities, the budgets and the resources are the big issues. As it is, there is a massive, exhaustive list as to what the new potential office for the directly elected mayor would have responsibility for. If that were to go ahead and be implemented as is, what impact would that have on staffing – not just in terms of budgets but people? Would people end up moving from one office to another, from one local authority to another office, or would they stay as is in their local authorities?

I agree with what Councillor Feeney said on the full-time position. It would be brilliant to see county councillors across country come in on a full-time position. However, I do not know that it would be deemed as fair if councillors in Dublin are full time but councillors outside of Dublin are not. What is Councillor Feeney’s perspective on that?

Recommendation No. 2 is around revenue, borrowing and the ability for the directly elected mayor to raise new taxes. What do the chief executives think their role would be in terms of advising and budgetary oversight on that? Ms Farrelly called out and made the point very well that we would need adequate representation from each local authority in the cabinet, not just on a d’Hondt political system. How would that cabinet interact with local authorities? Say there is, whatever the term may be, a Dublin mayor of transport. Will they then meet with each director responsible? What does that look like in a practical sense?

Mr. Ward made a good point on the plebiscite and the need to be clear with the public as to what we are asking them to vote on. Is a menu of options a better way of doing it than a simple "Yes" or "No"?