Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

This Bill has been a damp squib since its publication. As a former lord mayor of Cork city, I have been a supporter of the provision of an elected office of lord mayor for the city of Dublin. I suggested that this provision be extended to other cities because it is a valuable proposal. We were told it would be similar to the strong mayoral offices in London and Barcelona. In New York, for example, we saw how well former mayor Rudy Giuliani performed following the terrorist attack of 9 September 2001.

However, the Bill is a damp squib. It offers nothing of ambition for the proposed office. Indeed, the Dáil's timing in debating the creation of the position of a directly elected mayor is bizarre and out of kilter with ongoing events, given the financial situation. I am sure people are watching us and wondering whether we have anything better to do than to discuss such a proposal at a time when the country's economic affairs are in dire straits. Our nation has triggered a crisis across the eurozone and our banking policy is seen to be in tatters. Businesses throughout the country are under severe pressure and businesses in Dublin are closing daily. Many operators are wondering from where they will get funding to keep going and pay staff and commercial rates, which are an excessive demand from local authorities, yet an office like this is being loaded onto them. It will need to be paid for by increases in taxation or in charges on businesses or households.

The powers of the mayor will be limited under the Bill. We were promised the mayor would have power over day-to-day transport operations and water services, yet this is not the case. We need complete electoral reform in this country, for both Houses of the Oireachtas and as regards local authority structures. An office such as this could be described as another quango and is just another layer of consultation that will have no power. It is useless and is not what is needed at this time.

The Bill proposes an election in 2011, six or seven months from now, which is out of synch with local authority elections which are not due again for another three and a half years. It would have been sensible to have held the election for mayor at the same time as the local and European elections. The proposal to have an election for this office within the next year does not make sense. The fact of establishing new bureaucracies and layers of consultation will not go down well with the electorate. People will wonder whether we have anything better to do.

The funding of this new office is also being questioned. I am speaking to councillors in both Cork city and county at the moment who are in consultation with their managers as regards the Estimates, and find themselves in a very difficult situation. They have to consider whether there will be a forced reduction in the commercial rates being collected by their local authorities, for example. I have heard the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley both indicating there would be good news for businesses with regard to reductions in commercial rates in the forthcoming budget. Therefore, local authorities are having to plan on that basis.

The local authorities in Dublin have had to build into their plans the possibility that they might have to fund the office of mayor in the coming year. The issue of costing has been raised but it is not very clear. Fingal County Council estimates that it could cost €10 million the first year and €8 million in subsequent years. I believe Deputy Gogarty indicated it could cost up to €5 million for one local authority alone, in Dublin, and we are dealing with four. The cost will ultimately be borne by businesses because the local government contribution to local authorities is, if anything, reducing. It will not be increased to accommodate this office. Therefore, the costing does not make sense at this time.

One of the areas within which a mayor can normally operate is in directing transport policy. We have seen this in London with regard to the underground and congestion charges. Deputies were under the impression that this office was to have a major role in directing transport for Dublin but from the contents of the legislation it seems to go far short of what was promised. We thought the mayor would chair the Dublin Transport Authority but that has been replaced by the National Transport Authority.

The Bill seems to be struggling to find a role that the mayor can play with regard to Dublin transport policy. I should have expected that such an office would have a stronger role and be able to intervene in the operations of bus and rail services in the capital. The office should have a role to play in the cost of public transport fares, to encourage the public to use this method of travel rather than depending on cars. It should have a strong role to play on the issue of taxi ranks and how they operate and also on the question of congestion charges. However, the proposals in the Bill fly in the face of all the promises that were made on transforming the transport infrastructure of Dublin city and the greater Dublin area.

The Bill is a damp squib in terms of the powers and opportunities that might have been allocated to an office such as that of mayor in terms of playing a leading role in the development of transport policies for the greater Dublin area. The powers are limited and the mayor will only have an opportunity to oversee the preparation of the transport strategy for the greater Dublin area. The National Transport Authority will prepare a draft transport strategy directed by the council and then submit this to the local authority for approval. The Minister for Transport will still have the power to issue any directives in regard to Dublin transport policy. That is the way it was before publication of this Bill, and sadly, that is how it will be after its enactment.

Once the transport plans are set the council can only monitor their implementation. Again, the opportunity that existed to give somebody a leading role in the development of transport in the capital has been missed. Transport in Dublin is very important, particularly in the greater Dublin area, if we are to make the city a leading European capital, to which people want to come and do business, a place where citizens can live in relative comfort, knowing they can get easy access to its facilities whether by bus, rail, DART or Luas. In this projection, people could fly into Dublin Airport and have ready access to the city centre and use any of the main rail stations to get access to and from the regions. There was an opportunity for the office of mayor to play a strong role in this regard, in keeping the city moving. However, perhaps the Minister did not have sufficient confidence in any of the individuals who proposed to put themselves forward for the position. Now, what we have is a totally missed opportunity and we are left merely with a mayor who will preside over yet another quango and rubber stamp proposals from the council.

The other area of concern is planning. Again, there is no change in terms of planning. The regional authorities of Dublin and the mid-east regional authority will continue to make the planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area. The balance of power in regard to planning will remain with the regional authorities and the Minister, not with the mayor. The mayor will have the power to initiate the regional planning guidelines but this is merely a consultative role in terms of giving public notice and inviting written submissions. This covers the provision "to consider all submissions".

This power is similar to the powers that exist for members of local authorities in terms of the chairing roles in such bodies. However, there is no fundamental change in terms of planning, no opportunity for somebody with ambition in the office of mayor to prepare a draft manifesto spelling out how he or she believes the city can operate in terms of planning, improved transport, waste policy, water policy, etc. There is no opportunity whatsoever for an individual to put his or her stamp on it. What we wanted from this legislation was a mayor with strong ambition for the city, a person who would put his or her manifesto to the people, get their approval and therefore have the authority to implement that manifesto. However, that is not what we got. What we have is more of the same old rubber stamping, overseeing and opportunities to initiate consultation. The power remains where it lay before publication of this Bill and where it will be when it is enacted. This legislation is merely the Government pushing a Bill through the Houses attempting to establish the office of mayor of Dublin. It is in fact only establishing another quango with little power, adding to the expense of running the city and these authorities.

See this speech in context