Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Is cúis áthais dom é an Bille seo a thabhairt os comhair an Tí uasail seo inniu. Is é sin go mbeadh toghchán i gceist le haghaidh ról Ard-Mhéara na cathrach seo, príomhchathair na hÉireann. Léiríonn an Bille seo freisin na cumhachtaí a bheadh ag an Ard-Mhéara agus na hearnálacha agus grúpaí lena mbeadh sé nó sí ag obair. Is léir don phobal le blianta beaga anuas go bhfuil forbairt as cuimse tar éis teacht ar chathracha na tíre, ach go háirithe ar an bpríomhchathair, Baile Átha Cliath. Caithfear ceannaireacht chuí a bheith ar fáil do Bhaile Átha Cliath chun freastal ar an réimse leathan fadhbanna atá le sárú againn sa phríomhchathair, mar shampla, cúrsaí tithíochta, cúrsaí tráchta agus daoine gan dídean, dar ndóigh.

Níl ról an Ard-Mhéara in oiriúint don phobal a thuilleadh maidir le riachtanais mhuintir na cathrach seo. Conas gur féidir le hArd-Mhéara ar bith aon dul chun cinn fad-téarmach a chur i gcrích más rud é nach bhfuil sa téarma ach bliain amháin agus gan aon chumhacht acu difríocht dhearfach a dhéanamh? Tá sé criticiúil go mbeadh an deis ag Ard-Mhéara fís spreagúil a léiriú agus go dtabharfaí tréimhse chuí agus cumhacht don duine sin tionscnamh substainteach a stiúradh. Táimid ag caint faoi ról ceannródaíochta anseo. Agus cá bhfios, leis an duine ceart tofa, an méid forbairt a bheadh le feiceáil le ceannaireacht chróga chumasach? Seans go mbeadh Gaillimh, Luimneach, Port Láirge agus Corcaigh in ann a mhacasamhail a dhéanamh in am trátha sa todhchaí.

For many years, a long-standing policy position of the Green Party has been the need for and the clear benefits of a directly elected mayor for all major cities in Ireland starting with Dublin. A directly elected mayor freed from party politics and the grip of senior council officials can deliver for Dublin. Council officials have a role to play but it should not be the lead role as they have no democratic mandate and, therefore, are in no way truly accountable to the people. We need one elected individual - a readily identifiable and recognisable individual who will be the face of Dublin. We want to put a "face to a place".

This is a simple and easy way to deliver political accountability. It involves a person who will represent all of Dublin both at home and on the international stage and stand up for Dublin - a person whose sole job is to put his or her citizens first and be the focal point to drive the development and progress of the city, support its people, look out for opportunities, protect the city and its citizens against challenges and steward this city towards a long-term sustainable vision. A directly elected mayor should be a visionary leader, an ambassador who can lead their city, attracting long-term and sustainable investment and jobs. There is no reason we cannot have a mayor for Dublin followed by a mayor for Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny. However, it makes sense to start with Dublin where a directly elected mayor would have a mandate from over a quarter of the State's population.

The C40 global initiative is led by mayors from over 40 world cities who are developing strategies for how each of their cities can lead the way in preventing and staving off the negative consequences of climate change. A huge number of European cities are at the table but, unfortunately, Dublin is not. Dublin is not competing with Limerick, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny or Waterford. It is competing with London, Hamburg, Warsaw and Barcelona. We need to find new ways to make Dublin and our cities places that are attractive to invest in and more satisfying for people to live in. We need to be pioneering different and innovative approaches for our cities, all built around the challenges we face.

If we look to the UK, we see that Manchester is focusing on the promotion of business creation. Sunderland is the first English city to use cloud technology to offer broadband service everywhere. Leeds has developed the concept of "civic enterprise" that mobilises public assets in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors to create innovative responses to public need, for example, the need for sustainable energy. Bristol is working to create a new social model which will enable its citizens and social institutions to create a non-state vehicle for social investment.

It is no coincidence that cities that seem to be adapting to social and technological change are cities like Chicago that are led by strong mayors like Rahm Emmanuel. Much can be learned from cities like Chicago and New York, not just about policy but also about leadership. It is striking how mayors like Michael Bloomberg and Rahm Emmanuel embody their cities without getting trapped in parochialism. They have an outward-looking, entrepreneurial focus that makes them ambitious for their cities, as well as being attuned to what makes their places special. For example the transformation of New York's Times Square has had a hugely positive impact way beyond Manhattan and shows what can be done.

We cannot change mayors every 12 months and expect coherent and effective leadership. Some longevity and continuity is vital. Sticking with the current annual ritual where political horse trading decides who gets to wear the ceremonial mayoral chain for the following year does not serve the best interest of the citizens. Our cities need real, transparent and accountable leadership and that means the office of mayor cannot remain a ceremonial role. The new role must have day-to-day executive powers and be given some real input into improving the quality of daily life of Dubliners. It needs to be not only their unified voice expressing their concerns but be empowered to resolve for example the escalating transport and safety challenges that cyclists, motorists and pedestrians face, to promote Dublin tourism on the world stage and to foster and promote the arts and literature. Dublin is uniquely placed to do much more to utilise its world renowned standing in the world of arts and literature. It is time we got the development of urban Ireland right and directly elected women and men with the vision to take on that task.

We want to give every Dubliner a vote in 2019 for a directly elected mayor. We must allow Dubliners to take greater ownership of their city, entrust the people of Dublin and give them a real say and ensure all avenues to have a better Dublin will always be fully explored and utilised. This is a real opportunity to do that. The idea of having a directly elected mayor has been talked about and investigated for almost 20 years. In those years it has received the support of many political parties and Independents. It is time for action.

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