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

I propose to address amendment No. 19. I will obviously now not address amendments Nos. 20 or 21. I thank Deputies Quinlivan and Mitchell for that. Amendments Nos. 78 to 83, inclusive, have been grouped together.

I want to take the opportunity to mention a number of fundamental tenets of the legislation. These reflect key aspects of the proposal put to the Limerick people in the plebiscite, the recommendations of the independent advisory group report and as were set out in the General Scheme, from which this Bill has been developed.

Limerick will have a directly elected mayor with executive functions. When the mayor takes up office the functions of the chief executive, with certain exceptions, will transfer to the mayor. The role will have a strategic focus and involve additional functions outlined in the legislation. The mayor will be an ex officiomember of the council with the same voting rights, responsibility and duties of elected members. The mayor will also take on the functions, including the representational and civic functions, of the cathaoirleach outside of the council chamber.

Limerick will also have a director general, formerly the chief executive officer, with the primary role of supporting the mayor in his or her role in the effective administration and the general day to day operational running of the authority. As put to the people in the plebiscite, the director general will have responsibility as the Accounting Officer, for HR and staffing matters, for the administration of individual schemes and allocation of individual grants along with enforcement and compliance matters and legal proceedings relating to same.

The elected council, which also has a direct mandate from the people, will retain its primacy. The elected council has reserved functions and these will not change. The council will have a governance role in the performance of the mayor.

These reflect key aspects of the proposal put to the Limerick people in the plebiscite and the recommendations of the independent advisory group report as set out in the general scheme from which the Bill has been developed.

Limerick will have a directly elected mayor with executive functions. When a mayor takes up office, the functions of the chief executive, with certain exceptions will transfer to the mayor. The role will have a strategic post involving additional functions outlined in the legislation. The mayor will be an ex officio member of the council with the same voting rights, responsibilities and duties as elected members. The mayor will also take on the functions, including representation of civic functions of the cathaoirleach outside the council chamber. Limerick will have a director general, formerly the chief executive, with the primary role of supporting the mayor in their role in the effective administration and general day-to-day operational running of the authority. Put to the people, the director general will have responsibility as accounting officer for HR and staffing matters, the administration of individual schemes and allocation of individual grants, along with enforcement and compliance matters. The elected council also has a direct mandate from the people and will retain its primacy. That is hugely important in terms of the role of the chamber, mayor and the councillors. The elected council has a reserve function and this will not change. The council has a governance role in the performance of the mayor.

The mayor will be accountable to the elected council for his or her mayoral functions. The director general will also be accountable to the council for the performance of his or her retained functions. The mayor will bring the budget and development plans to the chamber. This is currently done by the CEO, so it is a significant transfer of powers.

As recommended by the implementation and advisory group, IAG, report, the legislation provides that the council will elect a príomh chomhairleoir who will be the chair of the council. As the council has a governance role in relation to the mayor - this is directly from the IAG report - it would not be appropriate for the council to have meetings chaired by the mayor. It ensures the role of chair within the chamber and the elected head of the executive are not vested in one individual and protects the primacy of the council.

The príomh chomhairleoir will act as speaker of the council to ensure the orderly and impartial conduct of business. The role will involve setting the agenda for meetings, allowing motions and maintaining order at meetings. These are core principles which inform the structure of the Bill and where responsible functions for existing provisions in the Local Government Act and other legislation would lie, so as to reflect these new roles.

I will first address amendments Nos. 19 and 78, both of which are in the name of Deputy McNamara. As mentioned, the core principle of the legislation is that the council will elect the príomh chomhairleoir who will be the chair and speaker of the council. As I noted, this is primarily because the council has a governance role with regard to the mayor and it would not be appropriate for the council to be chaired by the mayor. This was a firm recommendation from the IAG report with which we concur. With these two amendments, the Deputy proposes to fundamentally change this by removing provisions in the Bill for the establishment of the role of príomh chomhairleoir in section 22 and its functions, in section 23 and Part 1 of Schedule 1. It would therefore not be possible to accept them.

Amendment No. 80 relates to section 74 of the principal Act and the awarding of civic honours. This is a reserved function and ultimately a matter for the full council. This section provides that the cathaoirleach may have a role in proposing a person for a civic honour. I have examined all the amendments in great depth. I have also looked at the Local Government Act with my officials. Having listened to the Deputy's point, I will consider bringing forward an amendment on the matter in the Seanad. It is important that the mayor be able to propose the freedom of the city and civic honours. Once again, we are listening. We may not agree on everything but the Deputy makes a valid point with this amendment.

Amendment No. 81 relates to section 104 of the principal Act and sets out the circumstances in which a local authority may exceed the budgetary provisions adopted. In such circumstances the authorisation of the elected council is necessary. The council has supremacy insofar as that is a reserved function. It has to work in practice. We are at all times considering how we can bring an added value with the mayor. This section sets out that the local authority may exceed the budget in such circumstances as the authorisation of the elected councillors is necessary except in certain limited cases such as an emergency. In those limited cases, any additional expenditure incurred must be brought to the notice of the cathaoirleach of the elected council. The role of the cathaoirleach here is as leader-speaker of the elected council. Therefore, in the new structure in Limerick after the mayoral election, it is appropriate that should circumstances arise where excess expenditure is incurred, it should be brought to the attention of the príomh chomhairleoir and the council members.

With regard to the structure of the Bill, it is designed such that some of the functions will stay with the CEO - the director general - while others will go to the mayor. The director general and mayor are responsible for these functions directly to the council chamber. That is the basis of this legislation. As I said, the elected council retains primacy as regards the governance, role and performance of the mayor. The mayor will be accountable to the elected council on his or her mayoral executive functions, including the mayor's report and the mayor's questions at plenary council meetings.

The council also has a governance role in relation to the director general in respect of his or her functions. On their respective functions, the mayor and the director general may, up to the limit referred to, incur additional expenditure. The insertion of this section in Schedule 1, Part 2, outlines the director general function in these circumstances. Section 104 of Schedule 3 also outlines the mayoral functions.

I see I am tight on time. Am I at liberty to continue?

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