Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Quinlivan’s comments. This is about the optimal performance of the functions of the mayor and giving the mayor the power to assemble his or her team. Again, I acknowledge that we are in somewhat uncharted territory. We must be true to the intent of the people of Limerick when they voted, albeit by a small margin, for Limerick to have a directly elected mayor. We, therefore, should seek insofar as is possible to give that mayor the ability to fulfil his or her mandate and very much linked to that is his or her ability to assemble a team and to have as much autonomy as possible in assembling that team and putting the right people in place. I am in agreement, therefore, with Deputy Quinlivan’s comments. It is something that can be examined. It is my hope hat this does not go to a vote, but I ask the Minister of State to examine this and seek to give the successful mayor greater autonomy in choosing his or her team.

I want to acknowledge, as Deputy Quinlivan did, that this is no reflection on the current chief executive, who will be the director general and for whom we all have the utmost regard. He is doing an excellent job in Limerick and has put a very good team around him in the form of the directors of service and the executive. However, we have to think about other local authorities and future situations in Limerick as well. It makes sense for the balance of power in assembling that team to lie with the mayor, rather than with the director general.

On amendment No. 95, which is grouped with amendment No. 13, I will make a similar point. This is more about the team around the director general. We have a brilliant team in Limerick. Limerick has taken strides forward because of the team that is in place there. We have excellent directors of services. However, in the context of a new mayor being elected, the mayor should have a greater consultative role in the selection of that team, working with the director general of the day in selecting that team. The successful candidate for mayor will have his or her own ideas about which personnel would fit most ably into which directorate. It is a meaningful amendment that would improve the functioning of the new mayoral system as well as the relationship between the mayor and the director general. Yet, fundamentally, this is a matter of the elected person, who will be the mayor, having that strong role in the selection of the team that will, in turn, carry out the functions of the local authority .