Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

As previously announced by the Minister, there will be four advisers in respect of water, waste, planning and housing, whom I am sure will have to have a salary commensurate with that of a Minister of State, so we are getting nothing for free.

The mayor's powers will be limited. Despite previous promises, the position does not have any real power over day to day Dublin transport operations or policy and the mayor will merely sit on the advisory board of the National Transport Authority. The mayor will have no power over budgets of the Dublin local authorities and no role in housing policy for the Dublin region. On planning, waste and water policy, the balance of power always rests with the regional or local authority. These bodies set the regional plans for these policy areas with the mayor, but the mayor is limited to overseeing the drafting and consultation of the plans. When it comes to final plans, the mayor only has the power to remove from the agenda items that are inconsistent with existing policies. In respect of all other policy issues, the mayor only has the power to issue non-binding advice and offer guidelines - a talking shop.

The proposed election in 2011 is out of touch with the local elections cycle. A section of the Bill seeks to bring this into line with local government elections. However, the Minister is proceeding to hold it out of sync with the local government elections by holding it in 2011. The Minister agrees with the principle of deferring the election to 2014 but has prioritised holding it in 2011 as the number one issue in local government. He has cajoled and browbeaten his Fianna Fáil colleagues into giving him this vanity project which will cost consumers in Dublin additional money in 2011.

The four existing local authorities are required to fund this office and the regional authority of Dublin. Payments to the regional authority by the local authorities will be commensurate with each local authority's proportion of the population in the region. The total payment made by the four authorities will equal the estimated expenditure of the authority less the authority's anticipated income. The Minister will be aware that the current funding position of the four local authorities is precarious and that he will be making it even more precarious by cutting their expenditure in the 2011 Estimates. The huge funding commitment of the new regional authority and mayor will result in higher taxes and charges to households and businesses.

Let us turn now to the role of the mayor in various aspects of Dublin activity and life, the first of which is transport. The proposed role of the mayor in directing transport policy in Dublin is far short of previous promises by Government or the Green Party. The policy of the mayor chairing the Dublin Transport Authority was abandoned when that body was replaced by the National Transport Authority. It is noteworthy that the draft version of the Bill left the transport section blank as Government struggled to find a role for the mayor in transport policy. The proposal in the Bill as published falls far short of those expectations previously outlined and as such the Minister has failed to get any meaningful role in transport for the newly directly elected mayor.

The Bill states that the regional authority of Dublin will be merely one among many bodies with which the National Transport Authority will consult in regard to a draft transport strategy. The mayor will chair a 12 person greater Dublin area transport council within the National Transport Authority, which is an exceptionally bright function. I am sure the occupant of the office will be delighted to chair a 12 person committee that will have no power. Five members of the council will be nominated by the Minister for Transport. The Cathaoirleach of the Mid-East Regional Authority shall, ex officio, be a member of the council and the National Transport Authority will service the council. The council's powers are severely limited. It will oversee the preparation of a transport strategy for the greater Dublin area. The National Transport Authority will prepare a draft transport strategy directed by the council and will submit a draft of the strategy to the council for approval. The Minister for Transport maintains the power to issue any direction in relation to Dublin transport policy.

As regards the Dublin mayor and planning, the regional authority of Dublin and Mid-East Regional Authority will jointly make regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area. Guidelines must be made not later than sixyears after the making of previous guidelines and must be reviewed not less than once in every six year period thereafter. The balance of power in relation to planning remains with the regional authorities and the Minister, not the mayor. The mayor will have no function in relation to planning. The mayor will have the power to initiate the preparation of regional planning guidelines. However, before drafting regional planning guidelines, the mayor must consult with the planning authorities within the greater Dublin area, give public notice of his or her intent to prepare draft guidelines, and invite submissions and consider all submissions and make a report to the regional authority of Dublin and Mid-East Regional Authority on the submissions received. The mayor will be required to ensure that draft guidelines are consistent with the National Transport Authority's transport strategy.

To shoehorn a meaningful role for the directly elected mayor in the area of planning, the process for setting and agreeing regional planning guidelines is confused and overly complicated. For example, the mayor must prepare and submit a proposed draft of the guidelines to the regional authority of Dublin and Mid-East Regional Authority, on which the regional authorities may make recommendations. Having considered the recommendations and having consulted further with the Cathaoirleach of the Mid-East Regional Authority, the mayor may then prepare draft regional planning guidelines and must publish a notice stating that draft guidelines have been prepared. Before the making of the guidelines, the mayor shall prepare a report on any submissions received. However, at the end of the day the Mid-East Regional Authority will make the decision and the mayor will have no say. The local authorities of the greater Dublin area are required to accede to any reasonable request by the mayor to provide resources or perform any task necessary in relation to the preparation, making or review of the regional planning guidelines in respect of the greater Dublin area, but the mayor will no authority or clout in making it happen.

As regards waste policy, a subject close to the Minister's heart, under current procedures a waste management plan is carried out as an executive function by the manager of a local authority. In Dublin, a joint plan of the four Dublin local authorities is prepared by the four managers. The regional authority of Dublin will be required to review the existing waste management plan at least every five years and to vary or replace the plan as necessary. It will be a function of the mayor of Dublin to prepare a draft of the plan for the Dublin region or of a variation or replacement plan and in doing so the mayor must comply with a policy directive of the Minister. The mayor is also required to conduct a public consultation procedure and to consult with the Dublin local authorities and other public bodies - consultation but no influence or power in regard to implementation.

The regional authority of Dublin, having considered the draft plan for waste or replacement or variation of a plan prepared by the mayor, may formally make the plan unless, in the opinion of the mayor, the plan would be inappropriate, whatever that means. In such circumstances, the mayor must notify the regional authority of Dublin of his or her concerns and request that the authority make amendments to the plan. Should the regional authority opt not to amend the proposed plan accordingly, the mayor may make the plan. A plan so made by the Mayor must contain parts of the proposed plan and must be sent to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for approval. The mayor can talk, prepare plans, seek amendments and submissions and so on but he or she will have no power or influence over waste management, an issue close to the heart of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

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