Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

The Minister is aware that the Labour Party pioneered the concept of a directly elected lord mayor of Dublin. Does he intend to extend this to other cities? Is this the only aspect of the White Paper that will be implemented? It belongs in the context of local government reform but where are the rest of those reforms? The election of mayors should be tied to the local election period and, while I know there is a sequencing issue in respect of the legislation, does the Minister envisage that the first term of office will be on the current five year schedule for local government elections?

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