Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill again. The Minister of State knows my view. I am not in favour of the Bill. As I stated on Second Stage, it is disingenuous and an insult to the intelligence of the people of Galway to have just two lines in the Bill stating that a new chief executive will be appointed to oversee the merger of Galway city and county. Galway is the second largest county in Ireland and there will be significant difficulties if this proposal proceeds. If there is to be a merger of Galway city and county, there should be a proper debate in the House and the change should be provided for in a separate Bill, rather than being lumped in with Cork. Galway is a diverse county, containing Clifden, Cleggan, the Aran Islands, Inishbofin and a medieval city with a mayor. The county council is starved of funds.

I recently spoke with the former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, who represented the same constituency as the Minister of State. His officials put a similar proposal to him when he was Minister and he rejected it out of hand, saying it would have been a disaster. Now we have the Minister of State bringing the same proposal to the House. I will not support the Bill and I ask Members not to allow Galway to be lumped in with Cork in a Bill of 28 pages that only mentions Galway on two lines. That is terribly wrong.

I do not agree with the proposal to have a directly elected mayor. The system in Galway is working exceptionally well. We have a mayor over a five-year term from different parties or independents. I ask the Minister of State, if he pursues a plebiscite for a directly elected mayor, how it would work in Galway. Is there to be a chairman of the county council and a mayor of the city, or is the elected mayor to oversee the city and county and try to work with a chief executive? What powers will the mayor have? It will be an absolute disaster. As far as I know, this model is not working in Limerick where there is no agreement between the chairperson of Limerick County Council and the mayor of the metropolitan area of Limerick.

I ask the Minister of State to support my amendment to withdraw any reference to the merger of Galway city and county from the Bill. He should introduce a separate Bill if there is to be a change in Galway. There is no support for his proposal among the elected representatives in Galway.

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