Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for returning to the House. It is disappointing that the number of people participating in the debate is so small given its importance. I am an unapologetic supporter of the newly created position of directly elected mayor and will be a very strong advocate for it. I welcome the debate and the concept. I have met directly elected mayors in the UK and the US.

I hope the Irish people, in particular the people of Cork, will affirm the commitment in the programme for Government by voting for this proposal in May. This will be the most important plebiscite the Irish people will face in making their decisions on the future of local government and its structures. Some Members have outlined questions that must be addressed. It is important that we put in place a series of information meetings as part of the advancement of the case. I invite the Minister of State to Cork to engage in this. I do not do so in an adversarial way but to take the points outlined by Senators Kieran O'Donnell and Byrne in order that we can bring people with us.

This is an exciting time for local government and our cities, including Cork. We need to look at the directly elected mayor's role, functions, powers, staffing and resources in tandem with the role of the council, existing county and city managers and the director of services. This is about the empowerment of local government. We must avoid vagueness and ambiguity as part of our campaign for the plebiscite. We must bring people with us. We must inform and educate them and give them all of the information they will seek from us. I hope we will engage in a regional meeting approach.

This is about the future vision of our cities. It is about giving a mandate to a political leader to take this vision and create new vibrant cities as part of Project Ireland 2040. In tandem with this, we can allow elected mayors, with the chief executive, to have a voice and leadership role. In his speech, the Minister of State made reference to the role being akin to the Secretary General of a Department and I welcome this. We must also ensure members of the council are not lost in the transition and that they have roles to play in local government. This is an important time and I am ambitious for the role to be cultivated and created.

I am a very proud member of my political party and I have never been afraid to come up with ideas to ensure we create alternatives to Dublin in the case of Cork. As a Corkonian, I am very passionate about Cork. Through Project Ireland 2040, the Government has given an imprimatur to the regions to grow and develop and be that counterfoil, despite the political protestations and posturing of some members of the Opposition. It is incumbent on us to develop the role to be the driver and creator of a new modern dynamic local government structure.

In some way, the challenges we face today are no different to when we began local government but there are also new challenges in terms of having carbon neutral cities, transport and housing. As uachtarán an Chumann Lúthchleas Gael stated in his address today, it is also about ensuring we have green spaces for recreation and parks in our cities. It is about saying to those who are tempted to oppose it that we can win them over by the strength of our argument. It is about being positive. It is about speaking to some of our councillors, who perhaps are sceptical and have vague notions about what the role is. It is also about putting in place the building block to create this platform for our cities.

Senator Humphreys is correct that we must avoid putting in place restrictions but I hope we do not go down the road of celebrity candidates thinking they can be the chief executive of a city. This is the most important position we are creating in local government and our civic life because it is about the people who will be represented. It is about the cities and regions in question. It is also about the future. I know from speaking to mayors of small US cities that there is a competitive element of attracting finance and jobs. We must define the role. We must create the argument for it and I believe the Minister of State can do this. This debate is the beginning of the journey. I will work with the Minister of State in campaigning for the position of directly elected mayor of the city of Cork. It is necessary and would play a pivotal role in making Cork the transformative place it is on the cusp of being.

I congratulate the Minister of State and thank him for his courtesy regarding the boundary arrangements for Cork. I hope we will not have a lacuna in the period between passing the legislation in this regard and its enactment because we must get it right. We cannot afford to fail in the biggest and most pronounced boundary change in the history of our country. It will involve staffing, resourcing and meeting the expectations of residents.