Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There were 19 contributors to the debate. This is the start of a journey. The Bill will go to Committee Stage and we will get an opportunity to go through it in great depth. This is completely new. Limerick voted by plebiscite. A Deputy made reference to the fact that, unlike Cork and Waterford, the vote went through by a narrow margin. I am conscious this is a major first step. I happen to be a Deputy for Limerick City and it is something of which I am very conscious. This is a draft Bill. People have studied it and want to study it further. I am open to amendments.

When I looked at the Bill, a number of key themes came up. I will touch quickly on an elected mayor for Dublin. Limerick has a unitary system with one local authority. Dublin has four. A general application will not apply. However, it will apply in other areas around the country. This is a blueprint. The Dublin City assembly report has been referred to an Oireachtas committee and we are considering it. The committee will come back in due course.

People made reference to how this will work. It is significant in that it is the first time a directly elected mayor will have a substantive portion of the executive powers of the current CEO. People have asked questions. The new mayor will bring forward the annual budget. I wanted to ensure the current powers of the elected members were retained. The mayor will bring forward a budget, but the budget will be voted on by the elected members.

We have gone with a model which I wanted to ensure would work. There will be a deputy speaker and speaker of the house, but the mayor will be answerable to the house. More particularly, the mayor will have a mandate and will be answerable to the people of Limerick. It will have the means and will have a budget. That is the subject of discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I have indicated that the budget will be in the order of €8 million a year, or €40 million or more over a five-year term. That proposal was contained in the IAG report and I took it directly.

There is a €200 million budget for the local authority every year. That is a significant capital budget. The mayor will bring forward a development plan and can influence housing policy and strategy. We want the mayor to operate at a strategic level and very much direct matters.

The staff are hugely important. We have to have staff for the mayor who have a knowledge of the work of the local authority. The way I see it happening is very simple. A call will go out through the local authority which comprises a couple of hundred employees. People can apply for jobs. The mayor, along with the CEO, will interview applicants. The mayor will ultimately make a decision on whether to accept an employee. That is the way it works at Minister of State level. I see no difference. These are all practical measures.

I am conscious this is a first step. In local authorities in the UK, members are voting to reverse the decision to have directly elected mayors. We have to get the structures here right. I am giving the mandate to a directly elected mayor and the means in terms of budget and structures. For the first time ever, a mayor will have a statutory right to have meetings with Government under the implementation group and to call in all stakeholders in the region in terms of issues. The mayor will chair community safety partnerships. The mayor will sit on the regional assemblies and LCDCs. For the first time ever, there is a specific section in the Bill whereby the mayor will chair a strategic transport committee. He or she can commandeer all of the stakeholders in the region, at national and local level. The CEOs of Clare are on many committees. I want the process to be strategic.

I welcome the interaction. Anyone who knows me knows I am very independent of mind. I value the work of public servants. They are key. I have a role. I am at this game as long as the rest of the House. I want this to work and it has to work. We want to roll out this system nationally. There is a three-year review. We can look at the timing within that period. I am open to amendments. I have been very open on this. The people of Limerick voted for this. We are all democrats here. People voted by a majority to bring in this. I want to see this come in and elections next year. Good candidates are coming forward. More particularly, I want this to work. When it comes to Committee Stage, I invite Deputies to bring forward amendments. We may not agree on every amendment, but I am very open about what will work. I have made a lot of changes.

We have taken on board virtually all of the structures mentioned in the IAG report. Some comments related to the funding issues, but once again we will have differing views. The main objective is that the people of Limerick voted. I keep going back to that fact. I have followed through on many of the changes recommended by the IAG and the joint committee, and having heard from people, including officials. Ultimately, the decision on this Bill is a decision I made in my delegated functions as Minister of State for this area.

We want to get this right. That requires all of us working collaboratively. This has to be a partnership model at local and national level. We cannot operate in isolation. I want the mayor to be able to drive forward Limerick City and Limerick. In changing the scheme, I took out any reference to dividing rural and urban Limerick because I see us as one, which is critical. Furthermore, I want to acknowledge the work of my predecessors in this role, the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, and Deputy Phelan. This is about democracy in action. I look forward to Committee Stage. I expect that to be very robust because that is the essence of what we do. We may not agree on everything, but we want to get to a point where we have a good piece of legislation. We will look to make changes over the three-year period. I commend the Bill to the House. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her indulgence in allowing me to conclude. I look forward to engaging further with Deputies on Committee Stage.

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