Dr. Eoin O'Malley:

I reiterate much of what Mr. Moran said. Currently, the mayoral function is that of an advocate for Limerick rather than somebody with the strong executive function we had intended him or her to have.

On the funding, the committee might make bold recommendations and try out new ideas on Limerick that it may, in future, want tried in the rest of Ireland. For example, why not try to introduce a land value tax, although perhaps not in this Bill? It could be introduced in Limerick to start with and we could see how it works before it could be tried out elsewhere. It would at least give the mayor a revenue stream allowing him or her to govern in a way we anticipated.