Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Anybody who is successful in the mayoral election in Limerick is almost the guinea pig. They are going into something where they have got five years to make a mark. I know that if anyone wants to do anything that is significant, substantial and long-lasting, it is difficult to deliver it very quickly. There is always a demand for something quick and shiny to be delivered but if it is going to be long-lasting and significant, one has to dig those foundations and dig them well, and maybe let somebody else build on top of them. One has to that have that political maturity to know that one is digging the foundations but one will never be around when the capping stone goes on this. It is "cathedral thinking". I think that is what they call it.

I will mention transport as an example. Dr. Quinn referenced transport and education. There is a great opportunity in school transport for the Dublin area. That is something a mayor could really get their teeth into. School transport is actually in two siloed Departments at the moment, and it tends to be a rural issue. It is the Department of Education that manages that, whereas the Department of Transport manages transport. There is a real opportunity there.

I am concerned that local government is weak in Ireland. It is weak, and is internationally acknowledged as being weak. A very low percentage of spending goes on local government. We have quite a lot of people represented by one councillor. One of the worst steps we ever took was getting rid of our town councils. I was on a town council and I think it performed well. It had its difficulties like everything else. Town councils were taken out without a whimper or mention from anybody. There were bigger protests about local post offices going than town councils going. There was a kind of attitude of "It is just politicians; let us get rid of the politicians". I am concerned that if we go out on this, a plebiscite will be treated as a reflection on the Government of the day. It will depend on when it is in the general election or local election cycles, or whether the Government is successful of unsuccessful during that particular time. We could end up losing it, and I would not like that to happen. We need to be brave, have that vision and say that Dublin needs a directly elected mayor.

I do not think we will get it perfect in the first go. The first mayor will not get it perfect, and nor will the second mayor. Other jurisdictions like Boston were mentioned. I am sure the first mayor of Boston did not go out in a blaze of glory. I have no idea of the history of the mayors of Boston but I am sure that to take on a really significant role like that, one has to be prepared to dig the foundation and maybe not get any credit for it. That is the bravery that is required in this decision that has to be made. I have no questions, just statements on it.