Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his response which I regard as fairly positive. He has certainly listened to the debates and the concerns of Senators and their views on this issue. This is fundamentally an issue of democracy running to the heart of local democracy and the manner in which local authorities conduct their business with regard to development plans. The existing legislation is more than adequate in this regard. Every local authority elects its chair and mayor by a simple majority vote. It is the democratic decision of that local authority and it should be no different in this legislation. As this is a strongly held view, I will be pressing the amendment.