Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Most people here are in relative support of the idea of a directly elected mayor for Limerick. A number of my colleagues and others across the House have spoken about the fact that this Bill will require amendment. Everyone who has spoken about how when talking to councillors from their own party, other parties or none, particularly long-serving councillors, they will talk about their lack of power. We know the issue regarding the powers of the executive and the reserve powers of councillors and that this does not deliver for the people.

Others have spoken about the fact that we lost many borough and town councils in 2014. Up to then, we had at least governmental units of organisation and administration that could address specific needs of these towns but beyond that, we also had greater resources alongside powers for the executive and councillors. We must look at how we operate local government. I can come in here and give out when I disagree with something. As others have said, there can be significant disagreements between councillors and the executive. Usually the executive wins, which can be a significant problem. We will all go out and attempt to get as many councillors elected as possible. When I was a councillor, I used to think about how few powers I had. We all know the history of this State. We know there were particular issues around planning but at this stage, we all know when we deal with planning issues as elected representatives of any sort, we are operating on a wing and a prayer as to whether a planner will talk to us. We know how the rules and regulations operate.

As much as we want to see an elected mayor of Limerick, Dublin and other places, we need to make sure that the resourcing and the powers are in place and we need to address the democratic deficit across the board. There is nobody in here, particularly anyone who has ever sat on a council in later years, who is going to disagree with me on that. It is an issue that has to be addressed as soon as possible. I might have particular issues as to how housing adaptation grants are operated and I know that is being reviewed at a local council level. I have spoken to the Minister and am aware of the fact that it needs to be reviewed at a governmental level also in relation to delivery. However, it will also mean money is where the mouth is so that we can deliver for people, some in really bad circumstances. We all welcome the fact that joint policing committees are going to be subsumed into community safety partnerships. We like to think there would be greater powers there. We all know the multi-agency scenario that is needed. I put on record again, as I mentioned earlier, that in Louth it does not make any sense. The justice and policing committees, JPCs, will be writing to both the Minister and to the Garda Commissioner asking that Louth would be subsumed into a three-county model alongside Cavan and Monaghan. If it was not good enough for Donegal and the Sligo-Leitrim division, it is not good enough for Louth, particularly with the big towns and the huge crime stats that need to be dealt with.

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