Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I am self-employed. I was born in Limerick and I live and work in Limerick. I was an elected representative for the Adare-Rathkeale district for six years.

I was there for the amalgamation of Limerick city and county councils. As other speakers have stated, Limerick has seen massive cultural change, first when the local authorities in the city and county were amalgamated and, second, when we had the vote on a mayor for Limerick city and county. The result was that the city voted for it and the county voted against it. It is a cultural change. Everything going forward must be a positive change for Limerick. The people of Limerick had a democratic vote and that should be respected, and we should move forward from there.

Equally, there is history within the local authorities. If one breaks down the local authorities, at present, Kilmallock district has seven councillors, Adare-Rathkeale has six and Newcastle West has six, which gives a total of 19 councillors and there are 21 councillors in the city. When it comes to divvying up funds, councillors from all parties and none are concerned that in the case of a council where a mayor has a large budget, the 19 councillors could be overruled, 21-19, on a city versus county basis. First, we might equalise the number of councillors between the city and the county, which would mean they would have to come together as one and work together for the city and county, for Limerick.

As other speakers have said, the city must thrive. I agree with that 100%. When I was growing up the city was thriving, and the county supported it. The desolation of the centre of Limerick city has been the downfall of the city because it used to bring people to the core of Limerick. Going forward we must reinvent and regenerate the core and we need the support of the county 100%.

One of my concerns about a directly elected mayor is the cost. The office and staff for the office must be paid for. The director general must also be paid for in the same way. I believe between office space, staff and transport it will cost approximately €500,000. The costs will be covered by the State for the first two years and then it will come from the budget of Limerick City and County Council. If that is the way it must go, so be it, but I would like the mayor of Limerick to have a budget. I do not want any mayor of Limerick going cap in hand to Dublin looking for funding for the regeneration of the city and the county. If it is done right, this will be a culture change. Limerick is the first city and county to do this and we need to get it right. We must make sure there is a budget available. I hope we will get a mayor that will represent all, and that we will not have to resort to removing a mayor from office, which is a concern people have. We must embrace this, and we must accept the democratic vote on the matter. My concerns are, first, the cost of the mayor to the local authority and, second, to make sure that whoever, male or female, becomes the mayor of Limerick city and county, he or she will look after both sides of Limerick.

I am disappointed as I would like to see gender balance. Coming back to the issue of culture, I wish to raise an issue concerning the Kilmallock electoral area and Councillor Brigid Teefy. We met with the Minister again last week. The parties came together and made pacts on the chair of each individual district. Councillor Teefy has given more than 30 years of service to the council, but the pacts prevented her getting even a vice chair position, which is unpaid. Historically, pacts have been a factor for decades and we must wipe them out. Going forward, we must promote gender balance on all councils. I hope the new mayor of Limerick will ensure gender balance on the council in Limerick and that when the chairs are being handed out in each area, whether the member is a member of a party or not, there will be gender balance. There should be gender balance among the chairs of the districts and the position should roll over. If the chair of an area is male, then the vice chair must be female and vice versa. That way, we can improve gender balance, which is not happening at the moment. We will then have a council that recognises everyone, and we will all work together. I acknowledge all that the witnesses have done and what the chamber of commerce is doing.

I wish to raise the Land Development Agency, LDA, partnership that was set up recently in Limerick. I say everything in public. The work of the agency is confined to urban areas with a population of 30,000 people or more, which implies a city. I have been involved in the Limerick Twenty Thirty plan for delivery within the county. If the LDA works with the Limerick Twenty Thirty group and the local authorities then everything is covered in Limerick.