Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him on bringing this issue back to the House. There have been many attempts during the years to do this, but nothing really happened. A Green Paper was published on which there was much discussion but it did not proceed to a White Paper.

As a former Mayor of Limerick city, which I had the honour and privilege to serve from 2010 to 2011, I engaged with people from all communities and found it a wonderful experience. As mayor one is representing all of Limerick, the city as well as the rural areas.

Dr. David Sweeting from Bristol University has written a bookentitledDirectly Elected Mayors in Urban Governance: Impact and Practice and in a recent article stated that directly elected mayors are portrayed as being more visible, more accountable, more legitimate and more powerful than any sorts of local leaders. That is very true. I know from my own experience that people from all sections of society look up to the mayor as being the leader and they are looking to the mayor for support and guidance. Certainly I know that from visiting communities and groups across sporting, cultural and other interested parties.

During my term of office as Mayor, one had the Mayor of Limerick city and the Cathaoirleach of the county. At present, Limerick has an amalgamated local authority.

When the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. John Gormley, proposed to amalgamate the city and county council, I lead a protest against it. Now, however, I believe it is the best thing that ever happened to Limerick. Even in terms of Limerick being the economic driver for the mid-west, the performance indicators show that it is the second fastest growing economy and it is because the administration is talking as one unit. A directed elected mayor would certainly bring that into being.

I have a reservation about the populist vote. The candidate would need some form of local authority experience. When someone serves as mayor, it definitely stands to the candidate that he or she has served on a local authority and has the experience of what people are looking for. Countries such as the USA, Germany, the UK, our nearest neighbours, have directly elected mayors. I would support a five-year term because from my experience, one year is not long enough. One is only into the job and getting things done when one is out the door again.

I have learned that people want consistency, as they are disappointed to have to approach the next candidate when one is coming to the end of one's term. It is positive that the Minister of State is speaking in terms of a plebiscite for the city areas. When people look to the drivers of the regions, and I use Limerick as an example for the mid-west, Cork is driving the south and then one has Dublin. Dublin is not competing with the other cities in Ireland, it is competing with capital cities such as London and Paris. We have to be able to compete with our counterparts, be it on the European or national platform. We have to be able to deliver the same standard.

The powers of the mayor are very important to the position. Transport comes under the remit of the mayor. In other countries, education and health comes under the remit of the local authority. I accept that we have to start small and look at expanding the powers. However, the powers have to be given and while the CEO of the local authorities is the main person in charge, the position of mayor has to be developed into something more than a figurehead. While some mayors will put their weight behind things, others will not, so it is important that the role of the CEO be defined if we are to have a directly elected mayor.

In Limerick we have a mayor, who is mayor of the city and county, a mayor of the metropolitan area and we have three other mayors, that is five mayors in total. That needs to be looked at. I know that Senator Coffey referred to the fact that both mayors may turn up. We had an issue with that for some time, but a solution was worked out in the local authority whereby only one mayor will be present. Should more than one mayor with his or her chain of office turn up, it can present a difficulty for the person hosting the event. That is an issue that the Department can examine.

I have been wholeheartedly supportive of the directly elected mayor since the idea was first mooted. I remain supportive of it. It is important to carry out a survey of former mayors and councillors to get their opinions as well as a survey on the plebiscite. A previous speaker put it to us that one has to define exactly what is being put to the people and what that would entail. It is very important to create a clear picture. I thank Members.