Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It will all depend on the fall-out from other elections, of course. I support the principle of a directly elected mayor. I support the fact that Limerick had a plebiscite. Plebiscites are to be protected either way. Other plebiscites rejected this and the Minister of State must accept that as democratic. We know about Dublin but I do not propose to talk about Dublin here today. Be mindful and respectful, as a Minister of State, of the decision of the people of Dublin city and county who made their position known. The Minister of State cannot have it both ways. In Limerick they took a decision to have a directly elected mayor. Fair play to them and I wish them well. The Minister of State has not been in this particular office for that long and he must face up to the reality that local government is totally underfunded and underresourced. Councillors do full-time work on part-time pay. In the Minister of State's words from various word searches I carried out of his contributions the Dáil, the chief executives are not accountable to anybody and reform needs to happen. This is going back and there has been a lot of reform since the Minister of State said that so I want to face up to the reality.

We must address local government funding. We are still waiting for reform of the local property tax. Maybe we should call it a council tax now that all local authorities hold their own. We do not have the equalisation system in place anymore and local authorities who cannot generate their own funding are not as disadvantaged anymore according to the Minister of State, his officials, and his various press releases and circulars. I welcome that also. However if we are to have real powers and local democracy we must have funding and the rights of local authorities to do it.

I had a Commencement matter debate yesterday about the funding, being administered by the Department with responsibility for rural affairs, for cohesion of new communities coming to Ireland. When I went through the list there was a multi-use games area, MUGA, which was allocated €1,500, playgrounds and community centres. All of these are very important but why is a central Government Department talking about €1,500? Why do we have Ministers going around the country cutting ribbons at every crossroads and sewerage treatment plant that is being opened? These are works that are being co-funded by local authorities. We must get out of this mentality of hogging all of that space in local government and allow councillors to get out there and do their jobs.

I actually support the role of chief executives. It is a function that has worked but I think we need to reform the role of chief executives and shift some of the powers away from them. We need to rebalance the functions and powers of councillors versus chief executives, but together and collegially. It is the best model and has served us well. The Minister of State will be aware, as I am because I have seen correspondence from the County and City Management Association, CCMA, about their views on directly elected mayors.

I will go back to Limerick for a second. I looked at the amendments the Minister of State could not accept this morning. One or two were of concern to me. One is the issue with regard to section 9(5) which states that the mayor will serve on a full-time basis. They were amendments the Minister of State was aware of, which parties including Independents put down amendments to that the Minister of State rejected or the Government could not accept. I believe, to use the Minister of State's words, if a mayor is put in place and on a very, very good salary and has an infrastructure, staff and facilities, he or she should be full time. I am not talking about caring for a sick member of their family but I do not believe they should have the right to go and do another job. It is not right and it is not functional. There are many TDs here who will not even be paid as much but at least they are full time or should be full time. A vote was taken on this. There was a very good debate and arguments and a very interesting vote result: Tá, 49 and Níl, 72. I want to be constructive and I am asking the Minister of State to reconsider that. We must have strong ethics and control. We know from the planning and other tribunals of inquiry that it is important that politics is beyond all of that and that we have integrity and infuse confidence in the people who elect us to do they job we are elected to do. This is an elected office on full pay so I believe we need to tighten the legislation. I know there are ethics in place but I do not believe that someone can be out in the morning putting up bricks and in the afternoon presiding as the mayor of Limerick City and County Council. I do not think it is right. That is before the candidate has even been determined.

I ask the Minister of State to keep the focus on that. It is important. This is something people who will be canvassing these mayoral elections will want to know - where is the money and the list of functions. The Minister of State needs to demonstrate this. The Minister of State has not significantly spelled out the devolved powers and functions he is giving this mayor or the relationship between that mayor and the chief executive. It is all hi-de-ho and great to say that we have a model. We are not Barcelona, Paris, Madrid or New York so let us face up to it. The real key issue relates to how the Minister of State will fund Limerick and the revenue-raising powers it will have. Greater clarity will also be needed because we see it in Dublin. The mayor has certain rights to devolve the functions he or she has back to the chief executive. On one hand we are asking the people in Limerick to go out and elect a mayor for Limerick. The legislation provides that in certain circumstances the elected mayor - who has been elected because he or she is meant to be independent of mind and in terms of process rather than independent politically - can devolve these powers. It goes back to the problems the Minister of State has highlighted year in year out about shifting some of the powers away from chief executives. We need to be clear on that. We have an opportunity to look at that and to amend that legislation. I would like greater clarity, not necessarily today but between now and Committee Stage, possibly next Tuesday, when amendments for this legislation will be debated.