Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State is aware, almost three years ago, the people of Limerick voted in a plebiscite to have a directly elected mayor for Limerick city and county. Indeed, it was the people of Limerick who took this brave step when other cities and counties in Ireland chose not to. I am glad to see the Minister of State's predecessor, Deputy Phelan, here. He was the driving force behind this legislation. Deputy Phelan is on record as saying that this will be the most significant reform of local government in Ireland since the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. There is an urgency to it now. We must honour the decision made by the people of Limerick in the plebiscite. We need to put in place a directly elected mayor for Limerick to let him or her drive his or her vision for Limerick. Does the Minister of State expect that the legislation will go through the Houses and we will have a directly elected mayor in place this year?

See this speech in context