Alex White (Labour)

Our thoughts and solidarity should be with the tens of thousands of people who took to the streets in Tehran over the past 48 hours and who are still protesting at events in Iran in recent days. Whenever I see such demonstrations and such a response by people in their tens of thousands, I am struck by the fact that when people abandon fear, anything can happen. Many people in Iran have abandoned fear and have taken the political situation, which belongs to them, into their own hands. They are out on the streets seeking to vindicate their civil and democratic rights.

I wish to be associated with the congratulations to my colleague, or as they say in the European Parliament, my dear colleague, former Senator Alan Kelly who is now a Member of the European Parliament. We are also congratulating today many people who have been elected to positions in local authorities around the country, mayoralties and so on. It is right we should congratulate them. However, we are reminded by this, unfortunately, of the constraints and limitations in the powers of elected mayors, deputy mayors and local authority members throughout the country. This is a timely occasion to raise this issue. Last week I asked the Leader to arrange a debate in the House about Dublin. In early or mid-May, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government made an announcement in respect of a directly elected mayor for Dublin and, perhaps, other cities.

I would like the Leader to arrange an early debate on how and in what manner the Minister intends the directly elected mayor to operate, because he has made significant claims in that regard. He said on 13 May, "I am making the most significant change to leadership in Dublin since the foundation of the State." That is a big claim and I would like to understand how the mayoralty of Dublin will work. What sort of legislation is it proposed to introduce. I presume there will be legislation, because if there is not, there will be no changes in the powers.

I do not see any colleagues from the Green Party here, but I am sure they are close by. I, like many others in the country, would enthusiastically support the position of directly elected mayor, but it must be a position of power. It must be a position that has real authority associated with it. Otherwise, it simply grafts a post onto the existing weak system of local government. I made the point previously in the House that we have a very weak parliament in Ireland. We have an even weaker system of local government. We now have a good opportunity to debate these issues. Will the Leader ensure the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government comes to the House to facilitate such a debate at the earliest possible time?