Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I would like to speak briefly on this amendment. As the Minister of State is aware, I raised this matter last week. In fairness, he acknowledged the fact that while some of the regeneration has been very good, some of it has not been. He also acknowledged that we need to give the opportunity for a directly elected mayor to be able to tackle this. I think that is what the people of Limerick would want. As Senator Higgins and others have said, we do not see those powers in the Bill right now.

I am genuinely a little surprised because I would have thought the Minister of State would agree with us on this one. It is a really good opportunity to empower the newly elected mayor with the oversight of regeneration, give it a new impetus, and ensure there is better democratic oversight. It does not make any sense to me to keep these powers retained for the director general. It is just not good practice but also shows a lack of ambition in regard to the Bill.