Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses not just for coming here today, but for all of the work they have done on the citizens' assembly. I am a big fan of the idea of a directly-elected mayor and strong local government. Our local government is far too weak and we need to strengthen it. I was not at all surprised to see that as part of its recommendations the citizens' assembly did not deal solely with the role of the directly elected mayor but also the reforms that are needed at a local government level.

Our task is to come up with the wording for a referendum. If we are to put forward wording, we would like it to succeed. We would like the concept to succeed. I would like to see a strong political role for the city. When I say that, I do not want to take away from the almost 50 Deputies that represent Dublin or the hundred or more councillors. Everybody who puts themselves forward for any political role does so with really good intentions.

For the role to succeed, I would like to hear whether the witnesses would agree that we need to have a twofold referendum. We need to have a referendum on the reform of local government in Dublin and the role of a directly elected mayor. I do not think we would succeed if we did not have one without the other. If we ask the people to give us a vote on one without giving them a vote on the other, that is not much of an offering. That is only my own opinion. If any of the witnesses has a view on that, I would be interested in hearing it.