Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their wisdom and insight. Having been a councillor, Deputy and member of the regional assembly, I am very grateful for the work our local authorities do. They make our communities better places to live in and I am well aware it is a difficult job.

I have various questions based on the information the witnesses have given us, relative to funding, functions and powers. When I was a councillor and on the regional assembly, I found public representatives had limited powers. That is mainly because we were part-time workers, endeavouring to represent constituents. I will have a question at the end of this. I say this respectfully. Currently, we have four powerful chief executives who have seven-year terms and executive powers, whereas mayors only have a one-year term to deliver policy revision. Would a directly elected mayor have a unifying purpose for Dublin, driving transport, housing, education and health, as happens in other cities? I understand all the complications of another layer. Currently we do not have somebody who represents the city. Is that something we should have in that context?