Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. This was a fantastic decision made by the people of Limerick. To give credit where credit is due, Deputy Niall Collins did a great job, working with other parties and people, to get it over the line. It is a pity other members of his party did not take a similar view in places like Cork. However, that has been decided now.

I met the outgoing council manager in Limerick to talk through what needs to be done in terms of implementation. I also attended a public meeting organised by Senator Maria Byrne to discuss some of the issues that still need to be resolved. We are in the process of putting together the implementation group. Some people have been identified and approached. As stated by the Deputy, it is important there is a wide spectrum of representation, including people who have experience of being in local government working on the corporate side but also in terms of accessing services. All of these matters need to be addressed in the implementation group.

In terms of the timelines and legislation, the Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, will be the lead in taking the legislation through the relevant processes. We believe we can get this done. On the timeline, it is important the legislation for the first directly elected mayor of Limerick is in place for the next local elections to ensure that election can take place in tandem with the local elections. We will have an announcement on the implementation group very shortly.

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