Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 36: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he expects his 2010 target for a directly elected mayor to be feasible; the powers this position will have; the way he will reform the local government manager powers as a result of this policy; the way he will reform local government structures in Dublin to introduce a new directly elected mayor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25141/09]

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his plans to continue to remove more responsibilities from directly elected councillors in local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25157/09]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress made regarding directly elected mayors; the timeframe for elections; the legislative provisions which will be required; when he will bring such legislation before the House of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25059/09]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress made towards bringing forward the White Paper on Local Government; when he expects same to be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25060/09]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the role of a directly elected mayor for Dublin is being created; the powers such a mayor will be delegated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25115/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 36, 42, 66, 69 and 73 together.

On 12 May 2009 I announced that the Government had decided to introduce a directly elected Mayor for the Dublin Region in 2010. Work is now under way in my Department towards preparation of the necessary legislation to provide for the election and the powers and functions of the Mayor. I hope to bring the legislation before the House during the autumn session.

This legislation will ensure that the Mayor will have the authority and powers to deliver real leadership for the City and region and will provide him or her with a suite of substantial powers across the functions of local government. The approach puts less emphasis on the unelected Manager and positions the Mayor firmly in the central leadership role for local government in Dublin. This will be demonstrated through the role and powers of the Mayor.

The Mayor will have responsibility for defining strategic policy in relation to land-use planning, waste management, water services, and housing across the four major Dublin local authorities. In addition, the Mayor will also be chair of the Dublin Transport Authority leading the authority in delivering reliable, integrated and cost effective transport for the Greater Dublin Area.

The Mayor will oversee implementation by the Dublin local authorities of the agreed regional strategies. These authorities will be required to ensure that their actions are in compliance with the Mayor's regional plans and strategies, while each authority will retain its own role in adopting individual plans, strategies and budgets, and in the detail of implementation. The Mayor will also bring key public and private sector partners together to promote a dynamic and enterprising city region. The integration of the activities of local government and the wider public service will be an important role for the Mayor, which will result in a better public service and improved services across the board.

The approach does not remove powers from councillors but rather the creation of the office of directly-elected Mayor brings a new dimension of representative local democracy to our system of local government. This is in line with a principle which has been central to my approach to local government reform - that local democratic leaders have appropriate responsibility for making decisions at local level and clear accountability for those decisions. The White Paper will further elaborate on this principle.

My announcement of the Government decision on the Dublin Mayor marks the first phase of the transformation of local government in accordance with the Programme for Government. It is my intention that the White Paper, which will address a broader suite of local government development and financing matters, will be informed by, and published following, Government consideration of the Report of the Commission on Taxation.