Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 5 and 6 relate to executive functions of the mayor and were both discussed on Committee Stage. Amendment No. 5 proposes that the function of a director general in Schedule 1, Part 2 may be conferred on the mayor by resolution of the elected council. Again, I emphasise that the mayor would be responsible for many of the executive functions of Limerick City and County Council. Only certain categories of executive functions remain with the director general, as we have discussed. The plebiscite should be put to the people. As I am satisfied that the schedule correctly assigns in the existing Bill appropriate functions to the director general, I cannot accept the amendment. My position is consistent with what I set out on Committee Stage.

Separately, I make the point that the legislation will be subject to review after three years, as set out in section 7. Amendment No. 6 will require the director general to submit a list of executive functions to the mayor. I spoke to the amendment at length on Committee Stage. My position remains the same. As previously stated, the scale of compiling the proposed list means this is a particularly detailed piece of work. That said, this is an area I would like to see develop in future, with something similar to the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, catalogue of service being produced for statutory functions. In the meantime, the proposal I made on Committee Stage to make a copy of this catalogue and an explanatory table for all enactments in the schedule of this Act available for the mayor and elected members may offer a reasonable and sufficient insight.For these reasons, I do not propose to accept this amendment, as on Committee Stage. I recognise the importance of this issue to Members and hope they see the value of my proposal.