Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Ó Broin mentioned many of the matters I wished to raise and I will not repeat them. I have a concern about the timing of something as fundamental as this being included at a late stage in the Bill. I recognise that the Minister of State and his officials briefed members earlier.

I recall the proposal of a previous Minister for a directly elected mayor in Dublin when my local authority was the only one of the four in the region that opposed it. The reason the councillors in their wisdom did so was there was no detail as to how the directly elected mayor would operate and how the functions of that mayor would integrate with the existing local authority structures, and I agreed with them. That question still remains. It is happening now because we have a local election and a European election in May next year and the Department or the Government has taken a view that it would be expeditious and cost effective to have these plebiscites on the same day. The Minister of State might clarify that. I would like the cost element in the new section 38 clarified.

I would like to understand the logic of the inclusion of the four areas the Minister of State has selected. One could question the Minister of State's native city. The people of Kilkenny are always at pains to tell us it is a city. Why is the other city in this country not included?

I refer to the points Deputy O'Dowd made. I could mention Swords. We could mention towns that are larger than cities such as Kilkenny and ask why one would do it.

I would like to get a handle on the timeframe.

In the amendment to section 33 the proposal is that: "For the purposes of a plebiscite, the local authority concerned shall, not later than 30 days before the day appointed under subsection (2), cause information relating to the proposal to be published". How advanced is the work within the Department on the functions of directly elected mayors? What functions will they take from the chief executive? What will be the term of a directly elected mayor? Those are fundamental aspects of how a directly elected mayor would operate. In section 33 the Department is effectively saying that we would have that information 30 days before the plebiscite but I think we need to do a lot better. I accept the Minister is setting that as the minimum, but when people are unsure about things they generally vote against them. As an individual who supports directly elected mayors, as does the Fianna Fáil Party, we want to make sure that we are going to get this right and that it is not rushed. The measure appears rushed.

The proposed section 37 deals with the reference to two years. It states: "The Minister shall, in respect of each administrative area in respect of which a plebiscite is held in accordance with this Part and not later than 2 years" lay a report. The reference is to an "area in respect of which a plebiscite is held". I take it that it means where a plebiscite is passed.