Victor Boyhan: Urges Clarity on Limerick's Elected Mayor Review

Thank you, Cor Heerlick. Well, firstly, I want to welcome the Minister here again and to thank you for coming to the House to address my commencement matter. So, my commencement matter asks for the need for the Minister to confirm the nature of the Government's proposed review of legislation that established the elected mayoral morality of Limerick and to make a statement done the same. And I say that, and Minister, just to give you some background, I do so because there's been a lot of commentary about the Limerick Mayor. And I suppose it's also important to make the point of the very outset that in May, the 24th of May 2019, voters in Limerick approved a plebiscite supporting the creation of a directly elected mayor with executive functions for Limerick City and County Council. That was a historic vote and a historic day in local democracy and local government and for Limerick, because Limerick was, after all, the first in Ireland to approve a mayor with executive powers. initiating a process of legislation, reform and implementation. And I want to salute Mayor John Moran, a man of vast expertise and experience. I think he will say himself, as do the City and County Councils of Limerick, there was always going to be challenges. There was always going to be difficulties. When you map out and scope out a vision and a plan for local government, we're not like, we cannot compare ourselves with any other local government structure or form across Europe. And, of course, the long question always remains, we will never have local government if we don't devolve powers from central government. We have, effectively, a local administration. And I think, having read and followed and engaged with the City and County Councils of Limerick, which I do extensively, there are challenges. But, nothing that can't be overcome. And I really want to recognise the enormous work that John Moran, as mayor, has done there. He could have been in many things. He was in the Department of Defence. He brings vast wealth of experience, plus commercial aspects, to the job. And I think the various issues that may be challenging are not unsurmountable. They can be dealt with. So, I want to say John Moran, he went on to become the first directly elected mayor for the county. And, remember, he received 22.9% of the first preference votes and was, therefore, elected, democratically elected, mayor of Limerick and City and County Council in 2024. So, that's really the background of what I'm saying. I also want to say, in relation to, because I think it's important, so now we're reading in the papers that the government are going to carry out some sort of a review. So, I welcome a review. I'm sure Mayor Moran welcomes one. I'm sure the councillors, everyone welcomes a review. And then, over the last few days, we read that the Thornister, and rightly so on, I'm delighted, was down in Cork and talked about your native city, Cork City Task Force. And, great, we're going to see things, Task Force and Local Government, and their engagement, fantastic. And, of course, we know that Dublin City rejected the proposition of a directly elected mayor when first put to them. That maybe puts them again in another plebiscite or referendum. But, I think, again, in the Dublin City Task Force, we talked about public services, community health, business and unions, arts, culture and tourism, private sector, architecture, urban design, planning, and all the things that go with local government and local democracy. So, what I'll be saying, Minister, is I think it's exciting times for local government. We know that this week, the National Task Force and Local Government, who has already signed off on this report last week, and will be delivering it to your department and to the Minister tomorrow, Wednesday, let's be clear, let's not have any ambiguity. And, of course, we look forward to discussing then what issues around that. But, that's for another day. So, really, what I'd say, Minister, is I think it would be helpful for the people of Limerick, the City and County Council, the staff, the Secretary General, who I also want to acknowledge, because he's the only Secretary General we have in the country, in Limerick. I want to acknowledge his work and the challenges around his work. And, wherever you have a change in reform, and I'll finish on this, you're going to have the Chief Executive and the Mayor, and you're going to have tensions, and a bulwark for tensions. But, that's a good thing. That's not a bad thing. So, I'd be interested to hear what you have to say, Minister. Thank you, Senator Boyne. Look, you've given a very, I think, level-headed and fair, I suppose, assessment of how the Mayor of Council, or the Limerick Mayor, is working out. Of course, it was never going to be without issues. It was never going to go 100% smoothly. But, I remember 13 years in a local authority, and one gripe we always had is that, you know, the Chief Executive wasn't directly elected, and we were the ones that had to face the people, and face the music. On a five-year term, so, this was a response to that. So, I appreciate your assessment of it, but I'll just go through the substantive response now, and I'll touch on the review as well later. So, the Local Government and Ms. Scalini's Provisions Act 2024 gives effect to the 2019 plebiscite, where the people of Limerick voted to have a directly elected Mayor. The legislation places the previous two-pillar structure, with the elected Council and the Chief Executive performing the functions of Limerick City and County Council, with a three-pillar structure of the elected Council, the Mayor, and the Director-General, who was formerly the Chief Executive. The legislation makes no change to the primacy of the elected Council, which retains all of its reserve functions. Under statute, it continues to govern the work of Limerick City and County Council, and oversee the performances of the Executive, including the Mayor. The Priya of Coralor is a new role established by the 2024 Act, and is held by a Councillor who chairs Council meetings and is selected by the Council each year. The Mayor serves a five-year term, and is responsible for the functions outside the Council chamber that were previously performed by the Cahirluc, including the important representative role for Limerick. The Mayor has new functions assigned under the Act, including preparing the Mayoral programme, as well as responsibility for strategic and policy functions previously carried out by the Chief Executive. These functions include proposing the annual budget and the corporate plan to the Council, who have the final decision-making role by accepting them with or without amendments. Strategic development, including proposing the development of a plan, which is a matter for the Plenary Council to agree. Housing and building strategy, including proposing the housing strategy for approval as part of the development plan. Road, transport, safety and environmental services. Under the Act, the Mayor is the ex-officio member of the Council, with similar rights, responsibilities and duties to other members. The GGG is responsible for supporting the Mayor and the Council in their roles in the day-to-day operations of the Council. And for specific executive functions, these functions include staffing and human resources, the role of accounting officer and administering schemes, grants and enforcement. The legislation is clear in its design of the roles of Mayor, Priya, Corleur and Director-General, while preserving the democratic role of the elected members of the Council. It mirrors the intention of the detailed policy proposals put before the people of Limerick in the 2019 plebiscite, and reflects the recommendations of the Independent Implementation Advisory Group on the design of the Mayoral Office. Importantly, the legislation provides that the Minister will conduct a review of its operations and effectiveness not later than three years after the establishment of the Mayoral Office. So that means mid-2027. This timeframe was viewed as an appropriate balance between assessing the new office in a timely way, while also allowing time for the new arrangements to bed down. As part of the review, the Minister shall consult with the Mayor, Limerick City and County Council, the Consultative Forum and any other appropriate persons. On the completion of the review, the Minister shall make a report to each house of the Oireachtas on the findings of the review. So the review will commence in mid-2027, Senator. There will be full consultation. As I said, I want to thank you again for your fair and level-headed assessment of what is, you know, I suppose very much new ground, having a directly elected Mayor and allowing that Mayor to represent in the best possible way the people of Limerick can do the appropriate, take the appropriate steps to ensure that the City and the County drive forward. So I appreciate you bringing this up today, but I hope that in relation to the review, that I've given you enough detail there in terms of how that will work. Thank you, Minister. No, you've given me more than enough detail, and you say the review will take place in 2027. It'll engage with the councillors, that's really important, and local government and various stakeholders. And I think that's important too, and I'm glad for that confirmation, and in relation to the Consultative Forum and appropriate persons. And, of course, on completion of review, the Minister shall consider it, make the report available to both houses of the Oireachtas. So what more could you ask for? I want to thank you very much for that. I think it'll give greater clarity and a greater certainty to the elected members what actually is happening, as opposed to what they're reading about. And I finish, again, just to say I want to wish your department, your minister, and the two other ministers in the department, continued success with your work. I think, and I know, I don't think, I know that the local government taskforce will be with you tomorrow. Ultimately, it'll be a matter for the minister to consider. It is a report to the minister. It is then the minister will bring it to government, and hopefully there won't be too long delay. There's no point in having a report, because there are, I understand, a suite of recommendations attached to this report, and we need to see the implementation of them, and the faster that happens, the better. But I want to thank you. Thank you, Cardiak, and Senator, you referenced the local democracy taskforce, and I absolutely agree with you. The findings and the recommendations with that have to be taken seriously. Local government is so important, but it's not perfect, and you will know you're representing your councillors and talking to them on a daily basis. There's often frustration in terms of reserve functions, sometimes feeling helpless. No, I'll be honest, I felt I could get more done in the council than I can get done up here, but that's a different argument. That's up here, isn't it? Not called. We'll have a review of the Iraq as well. But, no, you're 100% right, and that'll be interesting to see those findings, and I assume they will work in the findings and the learnings from the democratically elected mayor in Limerick, and how that's working out, and it'll be very interesting to see what direction they take. Thank you. Thank you. Kermitra Maghav. Thank you. Kermitra Maghav. Thank you. Kermitra Maghav.