Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and the Minister of State's contribution. It is an opportunity for fundamental and real change in local government not just in Limerick. If it is effective and works very well, it could transform communities around the country. The golden opportunity is for the mayoral programme. When a person stands for election, and I presume there will be lots of different candidates, each person will have his or her own programme, supporters and opposition. It will lead to a new dynamic. I presume it is the same in Limerick as it is in Drogheda in that there are lots of different views on what should and should not happen but at the moment, councillors in Drogheda do not have the power and influence to make the changes they want to make. For example, they need the Government to make changes such as making Drogheda a city, having a new metropolitan area in the Drogheda-east Meath area and having tangible change in their community. The Minister of State will meet with Drogheda City Status in the near future and we hope to establish changes there.

The mayoral programme is at the heart of this. I cannot think of a more democratic and exciting opportunity for the people of Limerick or any other town like Drogheda to make the changes they want, to pick the person they want and to have a lively debate not just in chamber but also have a constructive tension between the administrative professionals such as the chief executive and staff and elected representatives because there is an imbalance there. I will not personalise it but there are significant differences of opinion in my county between what the executive wants and what the councillors want and the problem is that what the councillors want is not happening. I believe this is a fundamental way to bring about this change.

I will provide a bit of history. The first county manager was the county manager of Cork under the Cork City Management Bill 1929. The Minister of State will be delighted to hear that the person who got that position was a seven-times mayor of Drogheda named Philip Monahan. He was a somewhat paternalistic administrator who made some very difficult decisions and he was a man of his time. He was also rare in politics at that time in being a friend of de Valera and Michael Collins. He took part in the 1916 Rising and was interned at Frongoch with them. The funny thing was that he had a row and stood his ground with de Valera and Collins. The Minister of State will be even more delighted to hear as a Fine Gael man that he threw some cold water on de Valera. That did not affect his future prospects. When de Valera took over, he continued in his place. I have said this because there have been some rather exciting people in local government. While Philip Monahan was a man for his season, it was very interesting because at that time, the councils were abusing their power, the Civil War was happening and there was lots of conflict and it needed a strong hand. Philip Monahan was so strong that he remained manager for 35 years so he ran his own ship.

Local government has run its own ship for too long. Notwithstanding the excellent professional administrators there, we need the councillors to be in charge and we need the mayor to have the mandate to bring about change and to have the confidence and power with consultation. The Bill is significant in that it involves an advisory and implementation committee to advise the mayor. The Minister of State very wisely said that the sub-committees may be dissolved at any time by the mayor if he or she does not like them. It is all about consultation. It will be a really exciting time that I look forward to.

We need checks and balances in local government. The reforms in the past were wrong. The abolition of a lot of councils was wrong and it is time to reverse that. It is time for a town such as Drogheda, which straddles Louth and Meath, to have its own city council, to be in charge of its own future and to have its own metropolitan area. The problem is that this metropolitan area includes counties Louth and Meath and this will require the consent of Meath and Louth county councils - something that will probably be very difficult to manage.

The Minister of State is in the right place, is from the right city and is doing the right job. He will have a really exciting time ahead of him. Perhaps he will reflect on what local government reform is now needed and how he makes sure that power is returned to elected members, which is at the heart of the legislation.

I agree with Deputy Bacik on the need for the city of Dublin to have its directly elected mayor. Why would it not have its own mayor elected by the people to speak for them? Let us remember that a county manager or CEO cannot be sacked but a mayor can be. That is accountability. Let us give them the power to make the decisions and give the people the power to kick them out if they are not happy with them. This is at the heart of democracy and this is where we are losing out in our local government administration. We go from crisis to crisis in local government. Much of the work of local government is about what edicts are coming from Government, the power the Minister has and the power the council and its elected members do not have. This can radically change that. I have no doubt that the people of Limerick will have lots of different choices to make, lots of exciting proposals and lots of people who will upset the political and administrative establishment and more power to them because that is what is needed not just in Limerick but in many other places. I am speaking in an administrative capacity. I am really hopeful for the future. This is an excellent Bill. It will no doubt be amended in committee but I am very supportive of it.

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