Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----there is a transfer in one direction but not in the other. What I am really looking for are assurances, clarity and, to a degree, safeguards.

Amendment No. 24 would say that delegation made under subsection (1) would have to be approved by resolution of the elected council. If there is a mayor who is elected and says, "Well I do not actually want to do that anymore" and who wants to hand it over to the council, they would have to get the elected council's agreement.

Amendment No. 25 would insert a new provision whereby the mayor would, on an annual basis, provide a list of delegated functions to the elected council. If the mayor has decided to delegate functions, taking powers that currently sit with the mayor under this legislation and delegating them to the director general, then they need to be absolutely transparent and clear to the elected council, and the latter needs to be aware of that. It is really important, and it is also very important for the public. If the public has elected a mayor in the understanding that the powers here will sit with that person and those powers are transferred by the mayor into the hands of officials instead, the process in that regard needs to be transparent and we need to have clear awareness of it.

Amendment No. 26 provides that the elected council could, by resolution, revoke a delegation under this section. That is important in terms of accountability. What we do not want is a mayor failing to perform one of their key functions under this legislation, delegating it to a non-elected official and then trying to absolve themselves of responsibility and saying that this what they have chosen to do. The amendment would ensure that the council could say that the mayor is elected to perform a function as set out under the legislation and needs to continue performing it, and could revoke the delegation of said function.

Amendment No. 27 would insert a new provision to provide that upon the conclusion of a mayoral term, any delegations made under section 27 would stand revoked. Perhaps the Minister of State might clarify if that is going to be the cans in any event.

These amendments effectively relate to trying to ensure that whoever is elected by the people of Limerick as their mayor will perform the functions of mayor, that we do not see an erosion of the powers of the mayor and that we will not have a mayor who will say that because performing a function is difficult, they are going to hand it over to the officials. The purpose of the amendments is to ensure that we have mayors who will fully step up in the context of their responsibilities and the opportunities and possibilities presented by the role to which they have been elected by the public.