James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue relating to the process of introducing a directly elected mayor for Cork city and county. The forthcoming direct election of a mayor of Limerick on 7 June is one of the biggest reforms of local government since the foundation of the State. The Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024 was signed into law on 6 March 2024 and gives effect to the plebiscite of May 2019, where the people of Limerick voted to have a directly elected mayor. Plebiscites held at the same time on the question of introducing directly elected mayors of Cork City Council and Waterford City and Council were narrowly defeated. In addition to providing for a mayor of Limerick, the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024 makes provision for other local authorities to hold a plebiscite on the question of whether to have a directly elected mayor with executive functions for their administrative area.

A plebiscite of the electors of an administrative area may be proposed in three ways, namely where a local authority corporate policy group recommends it and the elected council approves it, where a petition is signed by more than 15% of the electorate and the chief executive certifies it, or where the Minister directs it. It must then be held within 12 months. Where the outcome of a plebiscite is in favour of a directly elected mayor, the Act requires the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to submit a report to the Oireachtas within two years containing proposals for legislative measures to provide for a directly elected mayor of that administrative area. These enabling provisions of the Act have been commenced and supporting regulations for holding plebiscites will follow in due course. It is important that there be options locally for triggering a plebiscite, and the design of the legislation aims at strengthening local democracy and subsidiarity by offering these options.

In the case of Cork, under these provisions, either or both of the two Cork local authorities could hold plebiscites for mayors in their own administrative area. However, these provisions do not allow for a plebiscite on the question of having a single directly elected mayor of a geographic area that comprises more than one local authority area.