Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will wait until he has finished consulting with his officials. I appreciate that he is an ever-moving and ever-thinking Minister of State. He may be taking the opportunity to further reflect on what he has said. Perhaps he will change his mind. I will continue to talk about the rationale behind my own opinion.

We are dealing with primary legislation. Earlier on, someone spoke about mayoral leadership, following and being an ambassador for the county and the city. The Minister of State represents this wonderful city. He has lived there and so has experienced the difficulties and challenges. He believes in this new role that will shape the future and in the ambition of his city and county. He has said all of that. He is also on record as having said that the mayor will be critical to the rejuvenation and regeneration of the city, providing new opportunities for the people and making it a better place to live and work. The Minister of State has said that, not me. He has said he agrees with the spirit of the amendment. The spirit has moved in him and he has said that this is a good and positive amendment and yet he still somehow has reservations about it. I do not want any ambiguity in what we are about as regards this mayor. I have concerns. As I told the Minister of State earlier, I have spoken extensively with councillors for Limerick city and council and this is one of two or three key issues that they raised. The Minister of State will note I have proposed only three amendments to the legislation before the House and that they all deal with key issues raised with me by city and county councillors in Limerick. That is really important.

We know that the mayor cannot and should not go against the national planning framework and that there are Government policies to shape the future economy of our country. We have a national development plan, a national planning framework and various Government circulars and guidelines to shape the future. We are going to have a new and strengthened Planning and Development Bill, very extensive legislation that represents the biggest ever reform of planning and development in this country. There will be loads of opportunities to safeguard proper and sustainable planning and development for the future of Limerick city and county in all of that. However, this is the Minister of State's opportunity. He is an elected representative in this area and has a lot of valued knowledge and experience. It is important that people reading the media in Limerick over the coming days will be in no doubt as to his absolute commitment.

I do not doubt his commitment but I am conscious that we have an opportunity here to develop tight narratives. Everything in politics is about communication and how we can communicate complex things in very simple messages. What I am asking for today is very simple. I have asked before but I will say again that I propose that "The Mayor shall be responsible for the implementation and management of regeneration projects in the Limerick City and County Council area", an area the Minister of State has talked passionately about for years. We ask that the mayor be responsible for that. Second, we propose that the new mayor elected "shall be required to submit an annual report that will be reviewed by members of the Local Authority before it is submitted to the Department". We are just asking for a report, not for the mayor to do a solo run.

I am also conscious of issues around the Land Development Agency. We will come to that later so I will not dwell on it too much now other than to again say that local authorities have to offer any lands available to the Land Development Agency for development under other legislation. I am very supportive of the Land Development Agency. Its work is not happening fast enough. Houses are not being built fast enough. Again, the mayor cannot do a runner and decide he is not going to co-operate with the Land Development Agency. He certainly cannot veto or block the disposal of lands because that power has been taken away from local authorities. They have first option and that is an issue. As I said, the mayor cannot deviate from Government policy in this area. At the end of the day, all of these regeneration projects are going to require support and funding from central government and the support of elected representatives and people in business within the city. It is really important that we agree to what is a very simple ask. I do not say this with disrespect because the Minister of State is very busy but he is coming in with pieces of paper and reading his scripts and advisory notes. I understand that he has to do that because he has a very extensive portfolio. However, it is also important that we listen to this very simple ask.

I do not know what Senator Cummins is shaking his head about. I am on the floor and speaking. I am entitled to speak without interruption or any sort of snide remark. I will just make that point.