Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a concern about the amendment for two reasons.

While I am a strong advocate for the living wage, there is an argument about why we are not suggesting other areas would not be included. Once we get into a legislative scenario where we are prescribing one form of ambassadorial role, we are then allowing the possibility that they would be precluded for other areas. I would query that. Ultimately, we have to leave it up to the people in a democracy. The people of Limerick could decide that is not what the mayor should be involved in. I would worry about it as prescribing policy outcomes for a mayor who is not even elected yet and that it might also preclude others.

The second issue I have is that chairing the joint policing committee, JPC, might be the minimum level of ambition the new mayor has for his or her supervision of the Garda. The process is there to identify the transition of powers between central government, for want of a better phrase, and the mayor. Again, my fear would be that if we limit our ambition to just chairing the joint policing committee, that could get in the way of a new mayor actually prescribing a more ambitious relationship with the Garda, perhaps a direct reporting one or something on the basis of the London model. I would be worried about those two areas. It is a tricky scenario because we do want to strengthen it, but I have a view on chairing a JPC - I have done it myself and I am not sure how much power I had. I fear that it would limit that transition, and the same applies to the minimum wage. I have concerns over the amendment for that reason.