Mr. Adrian Geissel:

On the question of whether South Dublin Chamber of Commerce is in favour, we do not have enough information to come clear on that. At the moment there are many more questions that highlight potential issues and concerns rather than disappearing, so the matter is becoming more and not less complex. We do not have an existing model to easily pick on and part of that is we are talking about four local authorities essentially being re-merged back into one. We also have living or at least institutional history about why they were de-merged in the first place.

On the example of London in the UK as being an independent economy within that country, that is great for the city but it is not always great for the country.

Part of the consideration is if we ran things out and said we had done one half of the country economically and population-wise, we have to remember that there is another half and that decisions made in the city have implications well beyond its borders. I am not just talking about Wicklow, Kildare and Meath. I am talking about all the way through to the west coast. In the UK, London is powering ahead while the UK Government is struggling with its levelling-up programme because it realises that the rest of the country is being left behind. I am not blaming that on the mayorship but it is one of the factors that one should consider.

The further we travel from the city centre, the easier it is to forget everybody else. It is not a reflection on geography. There are many problems that need to be solved in the city centre and perhaps their symptoms are further out. I would like to make two points. There is a Minister in charge of pretty much each of the problems so we already have a figurehead who is a directly elected representative and the person with the resources to make the decision and effect policy. The second point is-----