Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 17, to delete lines 1 to 25 and substitute the following:

“Attendance before council 17.(1) The Mayor shall be entitled and required to appear before Limerick City and County Council.

(2) The Mayor shall be entitled to speak and participate in discussions and move motions at meetings of Limerick City and County Council and he or she shall be required to make themselves available to attend such meetings on a regular basis.

(3) The Mayor may not exercise a vote at such meetings.

(4) The Mayor shall be accountable to the elected members of Limerick City and County Council in the performance of his or her functions, unless otherwise specified in this or another enactment.”.

This set of amendments relate to an issue I raised on Second Stage with the Minister of State and I am quite open to hearing his thoughts on it. This is trying to clarify the separation of powers between the mayor and the elected council and it is coming from the same issue the Minister of State has highlighted which is the importance of ensuring there is no diminution of councillors' powers. Indeed, in these amendments I am trying to highlight mechanisms whereby the councillors could have a strengthened role in holding the mayor to account.

These amendments, amendments Nos.14 to 16, inclusive, effectively, with a few different approaches, outline where the mayor may be attending, speaking or participating in meetings of the Limerick City and County Council. In the case of amendment No. 15, they may propose motions but they would not be voting. Amendment No. 16 specifically does not try to remove the power of voting but states that the mayor will be accountable. This is around trying to have a situation where we do not simply have a mayor who is another councillor, who may or may not turn up, who may put forward motions or who may vote. In fact, it is that we have an explicit requirement for the mayor to be accountable to the councillors.It is the model used with the Mayor of London and the London Assembly whereby the mayor, even though he or she does not vote, is required to be accountable to the other elected members. I am trying to be consistent with that idea of subsidiarity where we ensure there is a specific additional power that councillors may hold. We are going to see quite a lot of consolidation of power in the hands of the mayor and director general and it is perhaps not as divided as I would like it to be, so I was trying to ensure there was some reserved additional power that would sit with councillors specifically and would allow them to hold the mayor to account. The Minister of State may not wish to accept amendments Nos. 14 or 15, which may or may not be the right approach, but may be seen as limiting the powers, whereas at least amendment No. 16 does not limit the powers of the mayor but would ensure there is a clear accountability structure and a requirement for accountability. I am interested in the Minister of State's take on any of those three amendments and how we generally address the issue of ensuring councillors are empowered to hold a mayor to account.