Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman is right to point out that usually we discuss Bills prepared by the Government but that today we are fulfilling a mandate from the people of Limerick. Whether we agree or disagree with the position of a directly elected mayor, it was a decision of the people of Limerick to opt for one and it is up to us now to work out the details. However, we should be cognisant of the fact that it was a tight margin and that we still have a way to go to persuade many people that this is a positive step forward.

I doubt that there will be time for questions and answers in the five minutes so I will put as many of my observations as possible to the Minister of State and perhaps we can engage with his officials after the meeting on amendments to the legislation. As a former member of a local authority and the corporate policy group and as a former mayor of my city, I hope I can provide some insights. However, I am keenly aware of the one quality I do not have, in that I am not from Limerick. I worked there for a short time. I believe the pre-legislative scrutiny should formally engage with the local authority members, with the corporate policy group as a corporate body and with the Deputies for Limerick. We can discuss that in private session.

I will deal with each head in the general scheme and focus on the heads in order. The first matter that generated my concern was head 12 which would appear to give the mayor a vote in the council on matters of oversight. If there is to be a separation of powers, I question whether the mayor should have a vote in the chamber on matters of oversight. The Minister of State might explain that to us in a note afterwards. In many of the discussions we end up almost making comparisons with American politics because we have never had a directly elected executive office in Ireland. We have to draw on all the issues relating to separation of powers, impeachment and all that language we are not familiar with here. Head 14 refers to a vacancy period of six months. If a vacancy occurs six months prior to an election, we would not fill the vacancy. I fear six months might be too short, yet a year would be far too long. Perhaps we can look at that.

Head 24 deals with the role of príomh comhairleoir. I would not like to think that any councillor is a principal councillor above others. We obviously have shied away from the term "deputy mayor", but, having been a mayor, I am aware that one often has to delegate because one cannot be in every place at once, particularly for international events. I am not sure the term "príomh comhairleoir" applies. Perhaps the role of deputy mayor might be more formalised. I do not believe the general scheme does that at present. The current cathaoirligh carry out a very valuable ceremonial role and, no doubt, they will continue to do that. Perhaps a system of deputising might be formalised.

Head 29 deals with the powers and functions. I am concerned that it gives the mayor the power to delegate some of the functions back to the director general or the county or city manager. The purpose of the proposed Bill is to ensure that the powers of an unelected person are brought into the remit of an elected person. I think that perhaps the chamber would have to agree with any powers being delegated back to the director general because, by stealth or by cover of political cuteness, there could be a mayor who delegates much of the controversial stuff to an unelected official. I would not like to see that.

Head 33 deals with the corporate policy group. The corporate policy group is a very difficult beast in Irish politics. It is a cabinet which includes the opposition. I worry whether that model would work with a directly elected mayor. It is not something that any other city has adopted. We should look at the corporate policy group and whether it is fit for function under a directly elected mayor system.

Head 34 deals with the existing corporate plan.

There should be an alignment between the corporate plan and the mayor's local government plan.

The review of the functions under head 35 is perhaps a little late at 2024. We should look at that.

The final section I will focus on is head 42, which formalises the power of the mayor to convene. This is one of the principal powers that I experienced. It is one of the soft powers and is very important.

I have other observations from head 45 onwards, but I realise that I have gone beyond my time. I will hand on to the next speaker.