Mr. Art O'Leary:

This was a very democratic process. The plebiscite idea emerged from table discussions. We did not put it on the table. The citizens themselves in the room put it on the table as well. Anecdotally, my understanding of it is that the citizens were on a journey. We surveyed them all the time and asked them lots of questions. On the first day we asked everybody in the room if they know the name of the mayor of their local authority and 70% of them did not. On the final day they were designing complex local government structures with a confidence and a flair that would make your heart sing, so they were all on a learning journey. This was one of the issues which emerged when they were trying to figure out what they would recommend. The only reason I have described the journey is that they wanted the people of Dublin to have the same understanding of what was possible and the vision for Dublin that they had for local government. That is where it emerged from. If the Government decides to move straight to legislation, I am sure the members of the assembly will understand that because the key questions relate to the powers and the structures. The idea of the plebiscite emerged, but it was not a driving force from the word go. If the committee agrees with the principle of a directly elected mayor, I suspect that the members of the assembly will not be too upset at that.