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

Regarding what Deputy Quinlivan said, we will proceed as soon as possible. Tomorrow, my officials and I are meeting members of the civil society group from Limerick who supported the plebiscite. We will proceed with Limerick, which will be the leader in this area of local government reform. I assure Deputy Howlin that the issue of directly-elected mayors for Cork and Waterford has not gone off the agenda at all. In the next couple of weeks, the Government will decide on the citizens' assembly on the Dublin area. However, Limerick itself will be the test ground for the establishment of the position of directly-elected mayor. I envisage, nevertheless, that the issue will be revisited for Cork city and Waterford city and county in the near future.

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