Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has a very centralised political system, as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle well knows. When we look at it, a huge amount of political power in this country is vested in Dáil Éireann. Dáil Éireann makes the decision, through the election of a Taoiseach and a government, to transfer very many powers executively to the government and to Ministers. Then, when Ministers go into Departments, to a large extent they are very much circumscribed by what parameters are set for them by senior civil servants. Therefore, although the Irish democratic process has worked very well for the country in the 100 years the State has been going, we need to look at how we can improve it and where the deficiencies are. The one area in which there are deficiencies, which has been repeatedly mentioned and of which I know the Minister of State will also be aware, is that local government in Ireland is considerably different from how local government operates in other parts of Europe or, indeed, other parts of the world. Maybe there are arguments to be made that there are reasons we do not and did not transfer too much power to councillors in local authorities in Ireland. We are now getting to a stage where we have to look at our large cities such as Limerick and Dublin and ask ourselves whether they are really being served by the political system that operates in this country in order to serve the best interests of the citizens of those cities.

We are very well served in this country by having Deputies who will always advocate on behalf of their own constituencies and cities. One of the criticisms of Irish politics is that it can be quite parochial. Part of the reason Deputies are advocating for their cities and advocating parochially is that there is an absence of real leadership and political power at local level. That is why it is so effective when we have Deputies in this House from cities, parishes or constituencies who can stand up in this Chamber and hold the Taoiseach, Tánaiste or members of the Government to account and ask them questions in respect of their locality. That is a strength, but we need to recognise that the reason it happens is that there is an absence of power locally and that is why Deputies have to fulfil that role. In fairness to Deputies in this House, although we do it effectively, it probably does take away from the primary responsibility of a Teachta Dála, which is to make laws since the Oireachtas is the only law-making body that exists in the State.

When we look at other European cities, we see that very many of the great European cities have very strong municipal and local government. At the basis of most of them is that they have a mayor who is elected. That exists in the large cities, including capital cities such as Amsterdam or Berlin, but it also exists throughout Europe in respect of smaller cities. There would be a benefit to it operating for Ireland's larger cities. That is the reason I am supportive of this legislation.

During the summer, there was much controversy about the fact that tourists in Dublin were being attacked. That was a very serious issue. One of the notable things that arose during those controversies was that there is no person who is really directly responsible for the safety of citizens in Dublin. I know it can be said that the Government and Minister for Justice are generally responsible for the safety of all persons on the island but if that had happened in another city such as London, Amsterdam or Berlin, there would have been a mayor with responsibility. If we look at other cities, we see that the Mayor of London and the Mayor of Amsterdam, for example, have a responsibility when it comes to setting policing strategy in London and protecting and ensuring safety in public places in Amsterdam.

We need to look again at establishing proper political officeholders in order that we can be responsible for what is happening in our larger cities. I am not talking about this happening in every town in the country but certainly in the large cities - I know the people of Cork have rejected it - like Dublin, Limerick and Galway, we should be considering this and proceeding with it. As I said, the benefit of doing so is that persons can be held to account and members of the public can say they are not happy with the way a city is being run and can ask who they can hold responsible for it. There would be a mayor who has powers and that is the person who should be held accountable.

I had an opportunity to look at the legislation. Obviously, the functions of the new mayor under this legislation are to be functions that are already held by the chief executive of Limerick council and also those powers that are held by the cathaoirleach or current mayor of Limerick, and they are being merged together. I would have liked to have seen more powers given to the new officeholder of the mayor of Limerick. If we look at what people really expect from their city, what they expect predominantly is first of all public safety. Second, they expect a proper transport system. Third, and I do not know whether it is an issue in Limerick, but there is a huge issue in Dublin in respect of planning permission, applications for housing and other planning applications that are submitted.

At present when people see there are State failings in respect of those issues they can blame the planning authority, a faceless entity, or An Bord Pleanála. They do not know who to blame when it comes to transport. Again, the Government generally gets the blame in respect of policing if public safety in the city is incorrect. I would have liked to have seen further powers being given to this new office holder. I am concerned that if we just set up a new office that has the powers of the former chief executive and the powers of the cathaoirleach, in many respects it will not be the dynamic office that I believe the people of Limerick want to see. Indeed, the people of Dublin would like to see that in respect of Dublin. Maybe that could be considered when the Bill is on Committee Stage. It is worth trying out.

The criticism of this initiative that I can already hear is that we are just creating another job for a politician and what is the point of doing that. It is not about that. It is about trying to improve service for the people of Limerick and for the people of other cities. It is about trying to give them a greater say in how their cities are run. The great benefit of an elected mayor who would be responsible for public safety, transport or planning is that if there were failings in those areas, this person could be held to account and thrown out of office. Any individual wishing to run for that office would have to put forward proposals in respect of planning, public safety or transportation and those matters would have to be taken seriously. If they did not take them seriously, the electorate would not support them. I support the Bill and thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

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