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

This is important legislation that is changing the nature and structure of our democracy and we need to get it right. It is something we have been thinking and talking about for more than ten years. It is disappointing, therefore, that the Bill is being rushed at the last minute. As I commented to the Taoiseach earlier today, we read in the newspapers that the Minister for Finance was bitterly opposed to the proposals because there was no costings and the Attorney General was bitterly opposed to them because there was no detail on the powers. I find it hard to believe that something that has been so long in the making and doing is being delivered in such an inappropriate, incomplete and, dare I say, incompetent manner.

Two years ago, the Green Party's first contribution to Private Members' business in this Dáil was to introduce a Bill for directly elected mayors. We asked for consultation and did not press our Bill to a vote. The Government said it would engage with the other Opposition parties and not a single instance of such consultation or co-operation took place.

The Green Party supports the Bill because it wants to see directly elected mayors in all our cities and towns. We also want to see a directly elected mayor in Dublin, although that is not happening at the moment. We want to see one in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford because those cities need new leadership. The leadership provided for the past 20, 30 and 40 years has led to a sprawled model of development that has hollowed out the centres of our cities and resulted in out-of-town retail centres taking over. The car dominates every Irish city and town causing gridlock. This does not work. We want these mayors to have real powers over the chief executives, working with the chairs of the strategic policy committees so that we start to get housing, transport, local environment and culture right.

We will support the Bill, which we want to see passed. However, we have to mark a protest at the way it has been introduced and the lack of consultation with Opposition parties. We all have an interest, expertise and experience in local government. The Minister has to commit tonight to engage in a proper process of consultation with the Opposition parties in order that we get this legislation right. In saying that, I am not being party political. This is in all our interests, whoever is elected as mayor, because we all know the current system does not work and needs to change. It probably needs to change in Cork more than in any of the other cities because Cork has sprawled. It is like the words of the John Spillane song, "Johnny don't go to Ballincollig, Johnny don't go to Carrigaline" because Cork, like every other city, has sprawled in spades. Part of the problem was that the county was living off the city in ensuring that its development on the edge of the city gave it a rate base, but no consideration was given to the strategic development of the city.

We fear that this sort of approach to development in Cork might still go ahead. Places like Monard, which is 1 km from the proposed county-city boundary, could be developed if the county continues to play the game of getting development at any cost even though, as I said earlier, the Cork transport system is now coming to a gridlocked halt.

This proposal needs to be backed up with real budgets to give cities the flexibility to start investing in the public transport solutions they need. Cork needs a light rail system. Like Galway, Waterford and Limerick, Cork needs significant public transport projects that must be led by political leadership. This has to extend to putting housing beside public transport. There are four railway lines going into Limerick, but there is no real connection between that transport infrastructure and the development of the city.

Galway is a disaster in transport terms. If Cork wins the booby prize for worst sprawling development model, Galway is surely the worst example of bad transport planning on the planet. When the Galway orbital road with all the roundabouts was being built 20 years ago, a road engineer said to me that as sure as eggs are eggs, all of the roundabouts would lead to gridlock and would have to be taken out. Nothing is changing. The only transport proposal in Galway involves even more orbital roads. There has been no real radical thought about how public transport might stop the city from developing in the way it has been developing.

There have been some positive developments in Waterford. We would like to see whether the greenway could be run right through the centre. We support the proposed development on the north side of the River Suir. While it is not all negative, Waterford - God help us - could do with a lift. It should be the capital of the south east. The mayor of Waterford should really be the leader of the south east. There should be a focus on Waterford Institute of Technology and on the industrial history of the city as part of an effort to relaunch Waterford as a counterbalance to the development of the other cities. Political leadership is needed to make that happen.

We support this initiative. We want the plebiscites. We want to know - in the coming weeks rather than in the coming months - what exactly the powers will be. This will ensure people know what they are voting for. We want to know when the mayors will be in place if the plebiscite is approved. I asked the Taoiseach about this earlier today, but he was unable to give an answer. If the people say "Yes", is it envisaged that mayors will be directly elected three months or six months later? Will the mayors be put in on top of the CEOs of the local authorities? Will the chairs of the strategic policy committees in the councils be used as a cabinet for the running of cities? Is this the approach that will be taken? It is the sort of approach that we might propose and suggest. The Minister needs to start discussing this with the rest of us. If he does not do so, and if we do not get this right, I am not sure we will get the plebiscite through because when the time comes to vote, the people will rightly ask what they are voting for and whom they can trust.

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