Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses also who have taken the time to attend. I have found the conversation quite instructive. It is interesting to hear the different points of view. I do not really have a question because I believe we are still talking and asking what the mayor should do. All of the points are very interesting. I will make some points. I do not normally make statements.

I believe the Limerick mayor is the test bed. Whatever way that turns out will show us how this works, albeit it is a smaller city. We need to see what that is. Having served at all levels of democracy in the country, from the council to the regional assembly and now here, I believe there is an imbalance in the democratic system. I have found that as public representatives we are quite weak. I gave an example of this last week - the four chief executives have a mandate of up to ten years, with essentially all of the power, whereas mayors get one year with very little power. It is a sort of ceremonial role. I know that Fianna Fáil spoke in the past about having a Minister with an urban or Dublin role. Deputy Lahart had that role in opposition. I hear what Senator Boyhan is saying about splitting up the four councils and now bringing them back together. I believe there is something missing. As a councillor, one has very little power as a part-timer without any resources. Most people have a full-time job. Trying to work through that system is very difficult. That is the case even in these Houses, where it is not as difficult. It seems to be very difficult to deal with the big players like the National Transport Authority, NTA. I will not mention any names but the Departments are very much like fortresses. It is very hard to get in there and have a dialogue. We are elected to represent. As was said earlier, there are four chief executives. Maybe the mayor is the fifth chief executive of Dublin. That brings those four together and the council is below it.

It seems from Mr. Geissel's statement that he believes South Dublin County Council has been very good for that part of Dublin because it has concentrated on seven villages in south Dublin and has been very good business-wise. If it all goes back to one person, would it be Dublin-centric? Would it be about the international stage, with south Dublin being pushed out again? We have a democratic deficit in this country. People might not like me for saying that I do not believe we have enough public representatives to represent us as a people. It is very much driven from the top by people who are not elected. I apologise for making something of a statement. I am unsure if anybody wishes to comment on it.