Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will not repeat myself. Well done to the Minister of State on getting through this very large Bill. As a Limerick man, he must be very proud of doing so. I thank his officials for engaging with us. I thank the sitting city and county councillors of Limerick, who also fed into this whole process. They had a lot of views on the proposals. Indeed, many of the views expressed during the debates in this House - I cannot speak for the Dáil - were formed as a result of engagement with the councillors.

The staff of the Department are excellent at communicating but it is important that they continue to do so as the process continues. The Bill will go to the President to be signed and will then be enacted at some point. I ask that very soon, preferably within the next two weeks, there be communication with the city and county chief executive and the elected members. It is important that they fully understand the next phase of this process. They will be aware of it, of course, but it is important that they receive an official line of communication from the Minister of State and his Department.

Well done to all involved. The process will not be easy. We will learn from it and we will perfect the process in terms of the bigger vision for the election of mayors. It is a matter for another day but, as Senator Fitzpatrick said, we need to look again at establishing an office of directly elected mayor for Dublin. I have a sense it is being put on the back burner and I do not see it progressing as quickly as we would like. It is another matter of focus. The citizens' assembly did a lot of work on it and commitments were given in that regard. Let us not allow the proposal to wither on the vine.

Well done to the Minister of State and his officials on completing this long and arduous process. I thank him for his engagement with us. As a former Senator, he understands the importance of the work of this House and the frustrations we sometimes face. He engaged with us meaningfully and in a creative way. While not always accepting proposed amendments, he brought them back as his own amendments, as is his privilege and prerogative. At the end of the day, who got what into the Bill does not matter. It is about whether we have made the Bill better. As the Taoiseach and the Minister of State's party leader has said, this is a revising Chamber. Let us never forget that function. The Minister of State was very supportive and meaningful in his engagement with us in terms of adding a little extra to this Bill that came from Dáil Éireann.