Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The Senator is discussing amendment No. 14. We are discussing amendment No. 11 tabled by both Fine Gael and the Labour Party. The Labour Party opposes the repeal in section 7 of the Bill of the provisions of the principal Act providing for direct election of county and city cathaoirligh in 2004. The relevant provisions of the Local Government Act 2001 are principally contained in Chapter 3 of Part 5 of that Act. The combined effect of the Fine Gael amendments, Nos. 11 and 15, would be to limit direct election to Dublin City and Cork City Councils only.

The Labour Party opposes section 7 of the Bill and presumably, therefore, wants direct elections of cathaoirligh, yet, as we know, it opposed the section providing for the direct election of cathaoirligh when the legislation was introduced. There has obviously been a change of view. The elimination of the dual—