John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to start our debate on what is a fundamental change in local government, namely, this Bill. The people of Limerick were brave in the decision they made in 2019 in going along with the proposal put to the people in a plebiscite. As the Minister of State knows, at the time the people of Waterford and Cork were also given the opportunity to vote and the proposal was narrowly defeated in those areas. Perhaps that matter can be revisited at a later point. The fact that we are now legislating for this new office, for which an election will be held in June this year, provides us with a tremendous opportunity to try to shape and mould an office that could become a framework for many other areas.

I compliment the Minister of State on the work he has put in to the Bill. He had to do a considerable amount of work to bring it forward to this stage, in line with the programme for Government commitment to hold the election in June 2024. We also had extensive pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. It is probably a testament to the Minister of State and his officials that the Bill largely reflects what the people voted on. Many, if not all, of its provisions mirror what the people voted for. That is a great credit to everybody who has worked on the Bill.

It is important that the elected council retains its primacy despite this new elected office, and that the new mayor is accountable to the elected council in the same way as the Minister of State is accountable to the Houses of the Oireachtas and the people elected to Dáil and Seanad Éireann. Likewise, the new director general should have a relationship with the mayor similar to the relationship the Minister of State has with the Secretary General of the Department. That structure will work well. Obviously, there will be teething problems and many things may have to be ironed out along the way. I am certain that, with the right people involved in this process, we will have a very effective office that the people of Limerick city and county can be exceptionally proud of in time.I compliment the Minister of State. I know it is the start of the process in the Seanad and my colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne, will want to speak later. To wrap up, will the Minister of State clarify the piece in the miscellaneous provision around the fresh start? Is it specifically that we are just making it more general that if someone had a home in the past, regardless of whether they went through an insolvency, divorce or a separation, that they are now able to avail of the fresh start once they no longer have a stake in that home? It was the case that all of those other categories were included in the fresh start. Will the Minister of State comment on that because I note that and it would be a very welcome change to be able to bring those people who no longer have a stake in a property back into the net through the fresh start approach, either through the local authority affordable purchase scheme or through the first home scheme.