Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses who have come in. I add my voice in complimenting the very valuable work the four Dublin local authorities do in communities. I see at every day and every week. There is huge commitment from all the staff.

I have a separate question for each chief executive and it would be useful if Ms Feeney wished to comment after that. Ms Farrelly spoke about the need to get buy-in from Government and State agencies. How can that be achieved? If there is resistance to that, it will make an already difficult and complex process even more difficult and complex. What is the best way for that to happen?

Mr. Shakespeare talked about needing detailed information on proposed powers and structures for the public when holding a plebiscite. That needs to be clear and unambiguous. Given that the proposals will be evolving if there is a directly elected mayor, presumably the powers may evolve and grow over time. It will not be possible to have much of the work on the detail of the implementation done before the plebiscite because there is so much in it. It will not be done without the support for having a directly elected mayor. How can we get to the point of being able to provide enough information? Where do we draw the line on that? What is a sufficient amount of information to allow that plebiscite to go ahead?

Mr. Curran said that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council deals with 29 different Departments and State agencies. If some of the functions of those State agencies are devolved to a directly elected mayor in Dublin, how does that work? Let us take the example of the National Transport Authority having its functions go to a Dublin transportation office model. If that is under the mayor's office, how does that relate to the four local authorities? Ultimately, if a mayor's office is taking on many of these functions, is a mayor's office sufficient or are we in effect creating an additional authority, another layer? Even if it is not called another authority, it would need significant resources, staffing and financing to be able to implement across a number of different areas.

Mr. Ward spoke about the structural changes such as with Irish Water. That has been quite a long process. With this level of structural change, if it happens, how can we manage that in a way that is relatively efficient? When Dublin County Council was broken up into separate local authorities, it took well over ten years to bed in. These kinds of structural changes can produce long-term benefits but can be very disruptive in the short term. I ask the witnesses to comment on that. If there is time, Ms Feeney may also wish to comment.