Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am being led down a certain line and I will have to avoid getting into it.

I agree with Senator Maurice Cummins. The chair of any strategic policy committee should be a councillor. It should be a person who goes before the electorate. If another person has community involvement and wants to go before the electorate and get elected, then that is fair enough. The Minister should bear that in mind.

I made my final point to the Minister personally recently. I accept what the Minister is doing with mayors. In Kilkenny there will be one mayor and not two mayors in the county. That is fine. In Waterford there will be one mayor only and not two mayors. However, in counties like Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford or Westmeath there will not be a mayor, there will be a cathaoirleach.

With respect to the word "cathaoirleach", that is, chairman, when one goes on a trade mission or invites a dignitary to the county from across the world, he or she immediately recognises the title "mayor". All I am asking is a very simple request. In a county which does not have a municipal area, where no person has the title of mayor, whether Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford or Westmeath, I suggest an amendment be tabled to the effect the county should have the option to use the title "mayor" - some councils do not want the option and have retained the word "cathaoirleach" - from a trade and business point of view. I feel the Minister will go along with my request because it is illogical to deprive, say, County Roscommon of a mayor, if that is the wish of the elected representatives. I ask the Minister to leave the matter to the elected representatives to decide whether they want to call the "mayor" the cathaoirleach of the council, mayor of the county, and deputy mayor. Given that the Minister is a practical individual I do not think he will make a big issue of that matter. I think most of his Fine Gael and Labour Party colleagues would go along with that proposal to allow the title to be retained in counties which do not have municipal areas.