Ms Kate Feeney:

I will come in on a few of those points. There was a question about buy-in and how to achieve it. It is important that the mayor's office will have hard powers. I talked about the MASP earlier. Even though we have that structure, we only have soft power at regional assembly level, which makes it hard to achieve what is written down on paper.

There have been a few questions about the plebiscite and everything in that regard. My view is that we do not need a plebiscite in this instance. I know it is one of the recommendations. I should preface what I say by saying that while I am here as the cathaoirleach of the regional assembly, we do not have a view on the regional assembly over some of the other proposals. However, if we are looking at Limerick and taking lessons, it achieved nothing but delay in the Limerick case. We have had the citizens' assembly. We are having these discussions now, and the Leas-Chathaoirleach said this is one of three meetings. Any legislation that comes forward will go through pre-legislative scrutiny and through these Houses before it is published. What is more important here is to get the legislation right to ensure is it robust and that the mayor's office fits in with all of the other structures. We must also manage expectations as to what the mayor's office will be able to do. There is a risk, and we will see it in Limerick, with a public plebiscite. People think that the structures will change overnight. As was said earlier, it took ten years for the Dublin structures to bed in and this will take probably as long. What is more important than the plebiscite, which to me is a delaying tactic, is to get the legislation right.