John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want it to provide an interim report well in advance of the elections so that people who are going to stand or are considering not standing will know where they stand, so to speak, in making that decision. An interim report by Hallowe'en is still a big part of that.

In terms of the legislative process, within the next two weeks, the outline of a local government Bill will go to Government. It will principally revolve around Cork and Galway and the issue of boundaries in general. However, following on from that there will be more consultation with this committee when that Bill comes to Committee Stage. It is fair to say the committee is aware of the broad outline of this Bill in terms of Cork, Galway and local authority boundaries in general. There will be a commercial rates Bill, which I believe is still on course to be dealt with before the summer. The committee will be involved in the Committee Stage of that Bill.

In terms of directly elected mayors, this report has not been presented to Government. It is a question that raises its head from time to time and there is significant debate about it but the reality, as far as I see it, is that there has not been any level of political discussion as to what the remit, the functions and the functional area would be, particularly in the Dublin context, of a directly elected mayor. The Government is still minded to proceed with plebiscites in Cork and Dublin on the same day as the local elections.