Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

With all due respect to Mr. Bruton, he is a voice but possibly not the voice. We need someone to talk to when we want to talk to Dublin. At the moment there are four mayors, four managers and a plethora of organisational structures. We need a strong voice, an Ed Koch, a Pasqual Maragall and, whether we like it or not, a Boris Johnson; we need a strong, coherent voice for Dublin.

All across the world, strong cities have strong voices. Last week, we saw the passing of one of the most colourful voices in the south of France, Georges Frêche, the president of the Région Languedoc-Roussillon but the mayor of Montpelier for 27 years. Montpelier would not be Montpelier if it was not for the mayoralty of Georges Frêche. Like him or hate him, he was a strong voice for that city. That is why most French people say they would like to live in Montpelier. Barcelona would not be the same without the legacy of Pasqual Maragall, who brought the city from being an industrial backwater to be the host city for the 1992 Olympics. He made the city tick, he made it work effectively because he was a strong and dynamic civil leader who united the city and brought the Olympic Games to Barcelona. We all remember the scenes at the diving events, where the divers competed with the city as a backdrop. That was no accident, it happened because there was a strong mayor. We need such a mayor.

We need strong strategies and policies, that is why we need a mayor for Dublin. When I was put on to the Dublin Regional Authority 15 years ago, there were many voices in the room talking about Dublin but when it came to strategy and vision for the city, there was dissent. Some of the strongest voices who dissented from the need for good policies and planning are now before the courts. What we need in Dublin is a strong and dynamic leader, with the sort of leadership this legislation will introduce.

Four separate systems are not working. The analogy of a car was used earlier; we have four cylinders but the timing is wrong, they are not working together. We need the four cylinders to work right to produce a low carbon engine that ticks over and works effectively for this great city. It must be more efficient and coherent. When Fingal speaks with one voice, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown with another, South Dublin and Dublin City with others still, there is no coherence.

Visitors who come to Dublin are constantly confused about the various mayors from each of the city's local authorities. It is not just visitors but Dubliners who do not understand how this lump of metal of a mayoralty chain revolves every 12 months between different people who are at one time a voice for Dublin and the next gone from public view. We all remember the great mayors of Dublin city. I certainly have strong memories of Carmencita Hederman and her fantastic contribution to the city during the millennium year. Half way through the millennium year, she was replaced, however. That is no way to run a city or a region.

Deputy Ciarán Lynch is correct that Dublin is the driver for so much of the nation. We cannot change driver every 12 months and still expect coherent and effective leadership for the city. Drivers like the Richard Daleys found elsewhere are needed who will be the voice of the city for a long time.

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