Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I agree with him that it is really important that we proceed on this at pace but that we take the time to make sure we get it right. As to Deputy Quinlivan's comments, I fully encourage Oireachtas Members from County Limerick to engage with the committee in this regard. In our next private session, we will come to an agreement as to how we are going to engage with local authority elected representatives for the county. It is quite possible that we will also engage with the Association of Irish Local Government and the Local Authority Members Association.

This is an incredibly exciting time for Limerick. Limerick is centrally positioned along that western economic corridor through Galway, Clare, Limerick and Cork on the western side of the country. We talk about balanced regional development. It is important that this does not become just a throwaway term. It is important that we get the balance right. In light of the current emphasis on strategic rail reviews and the potential for rail, Limerick's place in the rail infrastructure allows its connectivity to places all along that western corridor and to Waterford. There are two deepwater ports there, which will be central to the offshore renewable energy industry. There is a great future for Moneypoint. The Limerick and south Clare area has so much going for it.

The right candidate for the job of mayor of Limerick will have a huge amount of scope. There is massive potential for that individual to really make a difference for Limerick. It is an enticing prospect for a good candidate whose approach is policy driven. I look forward to seeing the election take place.

As the Minister of State will know, the committee has an extremely heavy legislative workload in the context of the important areas that we have been discussing today and for which a mayor will have responsibility. That includes housing, marine planning and electoral reform. The members of the committee are committed to the pre-legislative scrutiny process and we are trying to manage the legislative workload to which I refer. We will continue with our pre-legislative scrutiny of this important Bill for local democracy. I thank the Minister of State and his officials for attending. We look forward to continuing this process and to supplying out pre-legislative scrutiny report to the Minister of State as soon as we can.