Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an important debate and I welcome the proposals made by the Minister of State. A directly elected mayor is of considerable importance to the community which elects that person. I note the powers of executive authority which will transfer to a directly elected mayor will be useful, powerful and make him or her accountable to the public for his or her actions.

The current weakness in local government is that the system goes back to the various local government Acts introduced in the 1920s. Eventually, the County (Management) Act brought in the county manager essentially as a dictator to order and decide what happened with a local authority. Councillors and mayors, unless they were strong personalities, did what they were told. Conflict in local government as a result of this approach was often reflected in reports in local newspapers. The position of county manager was unelected. In the majority of cases, county managers led dynamically and we have had excellent administrators and managers. However, we also have had bad ones. From my local newspapers, I note there is conflict between my local authority chief executive officer and councillors. Members opposite are smiling about this. I will not comment on the controversies or the personalities. However, it is not right that local government in County Louth has been reduced to a confrontation between the two. If that were to change, I would welcome it.

The Minister of State’s legislation should go further. The Government has had the wisdom to nominate several towns for future exceptional development, such as Drogheda, Dundalk, Sligo and Athlone, in the national spatial strategy plan. We need to identify a new source of executive authority in the local government areas in which these towns are situated. If one were to add directly elected mayors for Drogheda and Dundalk, it would lend authority to decisions being made by, as well as the focus of, local government. It is important we do that because the democratic deficit is clearly there.

Deputy Eamon Ryan is correct about councillors getting the mayoral chain every so often. I have been privileged to wear the chain of office in Drogheda at least three times myself. In the future, should I ever be retired from this House, I might do it again. Local government needs accountability, decision-making and people power. At the heart of what the Minister of State is doing is bringing people power, executive authority and accountability back to the people.

Another deficit in local government is due to the fact that Oireachtas Members can no longer be local authority members. I know the arguments for removing the dual mandate but I was and am still against that move. Members’ experience, knowledge and insight could be particularly useful to local government.

If a directly elected mayor will have the same executive functions as the chief executive officer of a local authority, then the mayor should have the same salary too.

The salary of a mayor should be the same as that of the current chief executive or administrator. It would attract the required calibre of person needed to do this job. The position would need to be properly paid to attract the best candidate.

I presume the election of a mayor would be a separate vote in the local government elections. The difficulty is whether a person could run for mayor while simultaneously running to be a councillor.

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