Mr. Adrian Henchy:

I thank the Cathaoirleach. Mr. de Róiste covered the issue of the directly elected mayor very well and I probably could not have summarised it better. The challenge is going to concern whether it will be a cosmetic appointment or a real one, and whatever way it falls it should fall on the "real" side. There is going to be a directly elected mayor in Limerick following the local and European elections in June, and I presume that will be carefully looked at to see what will fall out from that and what learnings can be got. If it goes well and there are positive learnings, we can look to do it in some of the other major cities.

To respond to Senator Boyhan about the time that councillors give, I was first elected in 2014 and, like anybody, you want to do the divil and all, be all things to all people and be involved in every group, whether it be something on the local authority, on HSE or school boards or in the local community and local clubs, and next thing you find yourself at meetings pretty much every night or every day of the week and you are stretching yourself beyond breaking point. We all want to do that, but it possibly feeds into why we are losing some councillors and public representatives. There are myriad reasons for that but often it is because we are stretched to breaking point. It is about having that almost wrap-around support that is needed to enable you to carry out your functions. When I was preparing for today, I had a deadline for area committee meeting questions last night, and generally you want to get in your questions and your representations, so you are working pretty much up to 12 midnight to get them in because of the deadline falling. Of course, there is then everything that falls from that. In the case of in Fingal, and I am sure it is the same on the other local authorities, there is the full council, special policy committee meetings, area committee meetings, various subgroups within the council, HSE meetings, local community group meetings, school boards and so on. It just stretches people to breaking point and that is where we need to strike the balance. If anything were to come out of that, that wrap-around support can make a huge difference.

To respond to Senator Wall on diversity, I am not sure of the direction in which we are going. In Fingal, a lot of young councillors and women councillors have come in since 2014 but a lot of them have gone and left the pitch. There is probably no single reason for that but I suspect it is to do with a lot of what I have just said. The demands are enormous and we have to find a balance in that regard. Where we do not want to be is that, effectively, our local authorities and, indeed, our Dáil have an age profile on the older side. I do not want to come across as ageist but our Parliament and our local authorities should reflect our communities and our communities are reflected by women, men, young people, the middle-aged and older people, and that is truly the balance we need to strike, although I do not know whether that truly is the case.

On funding, projects and examples of that, all the time on some of the major projects, where something may need to be done over a three- or four-year cycle, you get the funding in the first year and then desperately hope you will get it again in the second and third years. That is where it can be stressful. I can speak only about Fingal County Council, which largely prides itself on maxing out any funding it gets and probably goes back for more at the end of every year. I do not know whether that is the case in every other local authority but it is possibly an example. If some local authorities are performing quite well and getting their projects done in a timely, cost-effective and efficient manner, they should be held up as the exemplar and should not be held back. If other local authorities are not up to that level, we need to get them up to that level. There is always a bit of stress relating to funding, especially for major projects.

On relationships with council staff, I speak to the chief executive in Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, and all the directors and staff. The best thing I have found about being mayor is that you get to know all the staff. Before I became mayor, I was a councillor and I thought I knew most of them, but as mayor you go to all the events, every day, so you meet all the departments. When I finish up in a few weeks, one thing I will take away is that local authority staff have great pride in their elected councillors and in their mayor. I see that at every event I go to as mayor, where they are delighted to have you there, whether it is water, operations, active travel, planning or whatever else. I have nothing but praise for AnnMarie Farrelly and how she carries out her work as chief executive.

Senator O’Reilly mentioned the growth of the far-right. Social media is the elephant in the room that has come into all our lives and we are not truly on top of it. We have all been subject to scenarios at events, meetings or when going about your business that a phone is put in your face and it is very uncomfortable. I am a big enough guy and I played football and other sport, so I feel as though I can hold my ground, but I often feel very intimidated, uncomfortable and unsettled, so I can only imagine how maybe a woman feels in that situation. In the past, with traditional media, there was some degree of regulation and control but now people are living their lives through their phones. That is their source of information and the level of disinformation is unbelievable.

It is something that we are really having to grapple with. I hope I have covered most of what has been asked. I will leave it at that.