Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and that we finally have it at this Stage. I know a lot of work has gone into it and there are improvements from the general scheme. I want to acknowledge that and say that it is moving in the right direction. With that said, it needs to go a lot further. Fundamentally, one of the reasons the Social Democrats and I are most interested in directly elected mayors is because of how that role can strengthen local democracy. Fundamentally, what this Bill does as it is currently written is to transfer a number of the existing powers in local government to a directly elected mayor in Limerick. In itself, some of that is worthwhile but this really should be an opportunity to strengthen local government. When we read the excellent report done on this by the Library and Research Service, the thing that stands out is the table it produced showing where Ireland sits among OECD countries in terms of the strength of local government, autonomy and local decision-making. We are the third lowest country in the OECD when it comes to local government autonomy and decision-making. Malta is the second lowest. Malta and Belarus are the only countries worse than us. Being just above Belarus in terms of local government decision-making and autonomy is an appalling situation for us to be in. There are countries on that list that in democratic terms are not as strong as Ireland at all, but which in decision-making and autonomy do much better. This should be an opportunity to strengthen and to devolve more powers to local government. I appreciate that can be done in time and we all hope this will evolve if it gets established. I appreciate these things do not happen straight away but I think the Bill could be much more ambitious. A directly elected mayor for Limerick needs to have significant power. The entire point of having a directly elected mayor is that the decisions of the person who is elected should mean something because he or she has the mandate to make changes in people's lives. If not, we are then effectively potentially adding what has been described by others as a highly paid lobbyist or advocate for Limerick to a system that already exists, rather than adequate powers. Budgetary powers are important as well. There are not sufficient additional budgetary powers in the Bill.

One of the areas in which we feel strongly there needs to be more power for a directly elected mayor is in transport policy. There is movement in that area from the general scheme. I recognise that. I do not think there is enough movement of course. We have the beginnings of the directly elected mayor having input in and implementation of national policy. That is tricky. Obviously, a directly elected mayor and local government has to interact with national policy and cannot be aloof from national policy. I acknowledge that getting the balance right on that is difficult but it is an area which needs to be strengthened.

There is an ultimate prize in terms of getting this right and getting powers in local government right. We in the Social Democrats do not want a stronger local government just for the sake of it. Why do we want it? We want it because if we look at different European countries that have really good public services and which are doing much better than us in areas like childcare and a range of different services, they are delivering those public services through strong local government. In fact, it is very hard to pick out an example in the world where there is really good strong public services that really impact on people's lives and which are not delivered through strong local government. Therefore, a directly elected mayor in Limerick and indeed in other parts of Ireland - this will be the model - should be part of a stronger local government delivering public services that make a difference in people's lives. That is the prize we should ultimately be after here. It is not more power for local government for the sake of it; it is because local government has been starved of resources, powers and ultimately relevancy in Ireland. That is part of the reason we are behind even though we are an economically well-off country. This is one of the reasons we are behind other countries in delivering the kind of public services that make a difference in people's lives.

Anyone who has direct experience of local government, especially as a locally elected councillor, will be very aware of how the chief executives, formerly the county managers, can be very dominant in the system. Often elected representatives do not challenge them or hold them to account enough. One of the features we need to be looking at very carefully in this Bill is what the ability of a directly elected mayor with a mandate from the people is vis-à-visthe chief executive. If the power balance there is not correct in favour of the democratic mandate, we will see directly elected mayors who still have the advantage of a direct mandate and a five-year term, which the current mayors or cathaoirligh do not have, but who will be at a disadvantage if they do not have that formal ability and roles in the legislation. One key area of the Bill states that the directly elected mayor can appoint five staff members, one of whom, the advisor, the mayor has control over. However, the other four are within the remit of the chief executive in terms of how they are allocated. I will not name any specifics around this but I have certainly seen in some local authorities when small numbers of staff are assigned to mayors or cathaoirligh, it is certainly seen as being within the gift of the chief executives to assign staff who would have a lot of clout and influence within the organisation or to do the exact opposite. Having that power with the director general is problematic. We are only talking about a small complement of that kind of direct staff in the directly elected mayor's office. I would not necessarily say that should be made bigger or anything but if they do not have control over that, it could be problematic. Some chief executives may well not exercise those powers in a way that undermines the office but the fact that some might, and some would have the ability to, is problematic.

I mentioned transport policy; there is obviously a huge role there. A directly elected mayor in Limerick could also play a greater role in promoting a safer city and county and in making public spaces safer and more accessible for everyone. There is also a lot that could be done on leadership, age-friendly strategies, promoting cultural diversity, youth programmes, public art programmes and cultural events. I do not see anything prohibiting that. Obviously, the mayor's programme can encompass all of these things but those are areas that perhaps could be strengthened in the Bill as well, as could the mayor's role in providing leadership and co-ordinating actions amongst agencies to meet climate targets and indeed climate adaptation. The whole role of the night-time economy and night-time mayors also needs to be considered in more detail in the Bill.

In terms of the key recommendations of the pre-legislative scrutiny report, I want to highlight a few that have not been properly incorporated into the Bill. Recommendation 2 concerns having specific powers around transport, planning, health, climate adaptation and mitigation measures, housing and regeneration strategies. It is fair enough if the Government did not want to go the full length on that recommendation but, at least, more serious consideration should be given to a number of those.

Recommendation 4 concerns the mayor having the power to convene meetings of the forum with central Government, which is dealt with at sections 30 and 35 of the Bill. I have a fear that this could lead to a situation where the mayor does not have the ability to convene-----

See this speech in context