Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I sometimes wonder if we are living in the real world at all, and I certainly think it today. Here we are, with the IMF at the gates of the city and the limousines ready to pound their way in from the airport, past the Dáil and into Government Buildings. Those from the IMF will no doubt be interested in what we are discussing here. In their minds will be the notion of all-night debates on the state of the banks, the enormous sum of €130 billion in funding from the ECB and the efforts to stabilise the finances of the country. Instead, what are we talking about? We are talking about an office which, in the current context, is utterly irrelevant to the situation of the country.

Whatever about the gnomes of Zurich, as they once were, we now have the gnomes of Frankfurt and Brussels. What are the people of this country thinking? Although I do not know how long more we will be sovereign, this is the sovereign Parliament yet what we are talking about in this moment of crisis in the history of our country is reminiscent of guild halls, gilded coaches, ancient titles and the establishment of an office that is utterly irrelevant to the problems confronting the country.

Is this because the Government wants an election? That cannot be so. The Government turned and twisted for so long to try to avoid a by-election in Donegal South-West and ultimately had to be forced by the courts to live up to its constitutional duty. Is it because the Government is interested in the whole issue of quangos and the views that emerged from An Bord Snip Nua? Our attitude to quangos should be cut, cut, cut. What do we do? The Government, allegedly representing the will of the people, comes along with this unnecessary and irrelevant office at this time.

Great efforts are being made to suggest this whole process will be cost free. Who does the Government think it is codding? No matter what one sets up will cost money, and whether that money comes directly or indirectly, it comes from the people. The suggestion it is cost free is a joke as it cannot be cost free, whether it is €5 million or €10 million a year. I do not know the true sum as we have not been told. In reply to a parliamentary question, the Minister, Deputy Gormley, said it was impossible to estimate as precise costing is impossible at this time, yet we are going ahead with the creation of this office when every bob, shilling and cent takes from the stabilisation of our finances.

There is generally a case for an overall review of local government that might involve the merger of bodies, including in this area. There may be a case for elected mayors and, in general, in the context of such an overall review, it is something we should consider. However, to superimpose an extra layer at this stage is pure madness and utterly out of order. It is thumbing the nose at the suffering and disillusioned people of this country to even have the temerity to introduce it to the Chamber at this time. Very simply, the onus of proof is on the Government to suggest that this is necessary and that we must have another mayor on top of the four mayors in Dublin at present. That onus has not been discharged and my clear message from the heart of west Cork, although I have spent much of the past 33 years in Dublin while attending the Dáil, is to stand back from this for the moment as this is not the time to have such legislation on the Statute Book.

As a final point, I make a genuine plea to the Government, as a long-standing Member of the House, to review the situation in regard to this legislation, which is utterly unnecessary at this time. I understand that if the legislation goes ahead and there is this unnecessary election for an additional mayor in Dublin in the short term - what we want is a general election to clean out the stables - there is a proposal that the situation would be reviewed in two years time, perhaps at a time when there should be local elections. I have one simple suggestion, namely, park this legislation for two years. Let us deal with the genuine and serious crisis in the country at this time, bring forward whatever proposals we want, debate the issues and consider the full facts, which we do not have before us as yet. Let us try to find some common purpose in resolving these problems. However, the Government must not fly in the face of the people and proceed with this utterly unnecessary and irrelevant legislation. For that reason, I am totally opposed to proceeding with it at this time.

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