Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

In that last minute I ask the Dublin Fianna Fáil Deputies who tell me privately that they are against this to stand up in the House this week, next week, or whenever, and state their views publicly. I challenge the Government, if it wants to go down this road, to ask the people of Dublin. Ultimately, the mayor has the capacity to be a leader of the local authorities in Dublin but to achieve this, existing local government systems must be reorganised - not just in Dublin city and county but across the country - and a proper funding mechanism must be put in place to underlie the new position. If these two things are not done, this job will be a non-job, as Deputy Bertie Ahern has described it. It is a job that will be around the neck of the Minister for the rest of his life.

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