Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I only addressed a portion of it. There are other parts to our amendment that I would like to address now. The mayor should have responsibility for advertising and promoting Limerick. A directly elected mayor with real powers would have a level of influence and clout that other elected members, such as Deputies and Senators, do not have at the moment. The prestige of the position makes it extremely suitable for an elected mayor to champion the delivery of tourism in great numbers and get more people to come and visit Limerick.

We suggest that the mayor should have responsibility for organising and chairing the joint policing committee. While this may remove a power from the local councillors, it is thought that the chairperson of the Limerick city and county joint policing committee, JPC, has power that should rest with the new mayor of the entire Limerick city and county areas.

The other part of our amendment deals with executive power relating to waste management, as mentioned by Deputy Leddin. This amendment seeks to give the mayor responsibility for waste management with the specific intention of increasing efficiency in how waste is collected and managed across the county. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission report of 2018 which was commissioned by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment suggested that the current structure is not in the interests of consumers or the environment. Many areas of the city and county will have multiple companies servicing streets. For instance, my street has eight houses and four suppliers, sometimes with two or three different lorries on the same street in the one day. It is not efficient and this is an opportunity to give the mayor a tangible success in the interests of people in the first term.

Another issue we want addressed in that amendment was the mayor's executive powers for public realm improvement, including unused public spaces. This is something that any incoming mayor, whoever he or she maybe, should address. It is crucial for the success of the directly elected mayor project that the elected mayor have sufficient powers to nullify the concern that the position would just be a ribbon-cutting position. One area of significant power of decision-making is around the use of idle public spaces. Unfortunately, most cities, towns and villages have a lot of that and it could be done much better.

The mayor will have direct impact in the Limerick regeneration programme. As most people, especially people from Limerick, will be aware, regeneration in Limerick is a mixed bag. What led to the regeneration programme was the feud in the mid-2000s. In some ways it has failed some of the communities and in others it has been a really good success enhancing areas most impacted by the feud. There have been successes and failures across all three pillars of the regeneration project. It is fair to say that the areas are better for the involvement of regeneration agencies. Regeneration is not just about bricks and mortar. It is also about social inclusion and community participation, and it has worked really well. It is crucial that any future regeneration funding and schemes are directed to the areas that most need them. Giving control of this roll-out to a Limerick-based and elected mayor will enhance the probability that these resources are delivered in the areas that need them most. It is important that the mayor also has that function.