Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I am the Fianna Fáil Party spokesman on the environment and local government. I am delighted to be able to make a contribution on this Stage and I welcome the Minister of State.

I understood this to be a simple matter. The Local Government Bill 2003, which abolishes the dual mandate, was superseded by another local government Bill dealing with bridge orders. For this reason, we must now return to the issue in order to put the Bills in the correct order.

I was delighted for the people of the south-east for whom technical legislation in the Dáil resolved the matter of a bridge. We now have to sort out the Titles of the two Bills. As we have already had a lengthy discussion on the dual mandate, there is no point revisiting the issue, except to note that the question of its constitutionality is not a matter for the House, but for the President, the Council of State or the court dealing with the case taken by Deputy Ring. Our role is to deal with the technical amendment before us and to place the two Bills which deal, respectively, with the bridge orders and the dual mandate in the correct order. Once the Bill is passed, I hope we will get clarification on its constitutional position.