Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, and all those who have made contributions to this useful debate. I am glad we introduced the Bill and welcome the Government's decision to postpone its Second Reading until 30 June 2017 as it gives time for consideration of the issue.

I wish to reflect on a couple of issues in response to previous contributions and outline some ideas on how we might progress this issue. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, is in the Seanad discussing another Green Party Bill with Senator Grace O'Sullivan. The Ministers present should convey the message to him that the Government should allow all parties to participate in the discursive process proposed between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. Apart from Deputies Danny Healy-Rae and Ruth Coppinger, who hold a different view, the case for a directly elected mayor for Dublin enjoys the support of all parties.

The next stage in the process must be a public consultation process in the second half of 2017. Internal consultation among Deputies and Senators would also be very useful because there is no one as experienced as Oireachtas Members when it comes to the operation of our democratic and political structures. Most of us have been councillors and know how the system works. Our role is to lead on this matter, rather than leaving the matter to officials who usually develop legislation. We are better placed to tease out the choices and they should be a political call. There is a tension between the political system and the Permanent Government in terms of the design of political systems. We have a certain role to play and I welcome the Minister's stated willingness to undertake such a process.

I propose to address a couple of broad criticisms. The benefit of introducing the Bill is that it will allow us to get down to the detail and offer real choices as part of a proper debate. A couple of choices emerged from this discussion.

The Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, and Deputy Catherine Murphy, a Member representing those in Kildare outside of Dublin city, asked what the geographic confines of Dublin are. The Minister said this Bill did not take into account the changes made in 2014 by Phil Hogan's reforms. I do not like the structures the then Minister, Phil Hogan, put in place. They were fundamentally flawed and were introduced at a time when there was such an anti-political sentiment that one was doing well if one cut back political offices and structures. As a result, we ended up with three regional assemblies which are inappropriate. It is not that we do not need an eastern assembly. We do. Dublin, however, needs a separate regional authority. This would have to work with the surrounding counties. Section 40 provides that, in the development of regional plans, the directly elected mayor of Dublin would have to consult with the cathaoirleach of the mid-east regional authority to ensure it does not contradict the national spatial plan. Our Bill accounts for the need for co-ordination between the surrounding counties in Dublin. I believe the four Dublin areas require separate councils.

I fully accept that it is all of Dublin. I live in Dún Laoghaire but grew up in the city. I have never considered myself anything other than a Dubliner, no matter where I lived. Is the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, a "Fingalian" or a Dub? No one in Fingal is a "Fingalian"; we are all Dubliners. I am not a "Dún Laoghairian"; there is not even a word "Dún Laoghairian". We are all Dubliners. There is a certain co-ordinated sense of Dublin as a city. It is different from Kildare or Meath. No offence to those two counties. If one said to Kildare people that they were Dubliners, they would be equally shocked. They would go white, even lily-white.

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