Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Three words come to mind when describing the position in which we find ourselves. One is to welcome the detail of the proposals the Minister of State published last week, about which I will talk. I am disappointed that things I would like to see in them are not in them and I will bring them to the attention of the Minister of State, too. Notwithstanding the fact that Sinn Féin will support the proposition, I am concerned that we are very late in the day. The Minister of State should listen to some of our concerns, rather than dismissing them because it might help us to come out with a positive result.

At the core of the proposals is a significant reform of local government. Anybody who denies this is being churlish. Transferring all policy initiation powers from the chief executive to a directly elected mayor is a big deal. I am sure the County and City Management Association fully understands the significance of it and is lobbying away on the issue. I do not in any way underestimate its significance. Allowing a directly elected mayor to initiative the capital budget is a significant transformation. I disagree with the previous speaker. The exclusions are eminently sensible. No directly elected mayor should have any role in dealing with individual planning applications, individual housing allocations, individual licences or the award of grants.

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