Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 17, line 27, to delete “The director general, after consultation with the Mayor,” and substitute “The Mayor”.

A fundamental issue and concern with this legislation is that the mayor is not necessarily being given the powers or discretion to hire their own staff, which is something that could create an obstacle. I cannot imagine a situation where a Minister would have the majority of their special advisers hired by the Secretary General, but the director general or chief executive is going to be responsible for hiring and allocating staff for the mayor's office, effectively. We have a problem there and it is again part of that power imbalance. If people are employees within the council with a boss who is the director general they may be temporarily allocated to a mayor.Really, however, the ultimate control over their career progression would sit with the director general and the chief executive. That is who it goes back to and that is who they are moving through.

There is the question of who people will ultimately answer to. A mayoral term is short. The mayor has to be effective and they will want to do a lot. We must give the mayor the discretion to hire their own staff, even if this is to be within the remit of the existing Public Appointments Service. They should have a key role in selecting who would work for them, which could be key to having a mayor who is actually effective. If, effectively, the person who already retains 90% of the powers, as we discussed earlier, also gets to pick which staff will work with the mayor, there may potentially be curtailments. The mayor should have the opportunity to select their own staff. That would be key to their efficiency and that is what these amendments are trying to do. There is a compromise, as I have said. I suggest that the mayor might "consult" the director general in doing this. I am not saying this has to be entirely independent.