Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In May 2019 the people of Limerick voted on the issue of a directly elected mayor. To date, despite efforts by myself and others to find out a timeline for when we would see the legislation and, crucially, when the election will take place, we have no update on that. I raised this issue in November with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and he said he would come back to be, which he did not unfortunately. I was also concerned when I heard a response by the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, to a question in the Dáil last week. The Minister of State said there is a big challenge in getting powers from Dublin devolved to Limerick. We can see the benefits that a directly elected mayor would bring into other jurisdictions, and I would appreciate any help colleagues can give me in this regard. I hope the Tánaiste will provide some clarity on this remark, as it suggests to me that there may be an effort by some Ministers and their Departments to limit the proposed powers of a future democratically elected mayor in Limerick. This would be an utter betrayal of what people voted for in 2019. The people expect the mayor to be more than a ribbon cutter, and any chance to dilute or withhold powers would be a significant problem for us. When we will see the legislation, and when can people vote for the elected mayor?

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