John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I could not believe it myself because I had a list of things that I wanted to cover and I expected something similar from the representatives. I hope I was clear enough in my speech at the start. The Deputy said that we would be codding people if we did not give directly elected mayors real powers. He is right; we would be. I do not want to cod people. I want the directly elected mayors to have powers. We are going to have a difference of opinion, however, on the question of planning applications and planning decisions. If the point that the Deputy is making relates to strategic planning for the future and to that role, I believe it is right that the directly elected mayor should have a function in that area.

The Deputy also said that directly elected mayors should be signing off on planning applications and he curtly referred to what had happened in the years after the State was founded. He referred to the clientelism and corruption in the early years of the State and said that we had matured and gone past it. Sadly, the planning tribunal reports were not that long ago. I hope, when enough time has elapsed, there will be a time when we are past it. I will not, however, be supporting or proposing a situation where directly elected mayors are signing off on individual planning applications. As Deputy Jan O’Sullivan said, perhaps we could arrive there in the future as the roles flesh out, but I believe it would be wrong to start there.

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