Committee wants more powers for Limerick's directly elected mayor
Legislation will see Limerick become Ireland's first city with a directly elected mayor.
Limerick’s directly elected mayor will need more powers and easier access to funding than the legislation for the new role currently offers.
This is according to the pre-legislative scrutiny report released by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, and Local Government.
It looks at the General Scheme of the Local Government Bill 2021, which will be the legislation that will see Limerick become Ireland's first city with a directly elected mayor.
Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Peter Burke, described the implementation of this legislation as “the biggest single reform of local governments in the foundation of our State”, adding that this is going to be “a template model" to be used across the country.
According to the report, if the office of the mayor is to be a success, “it must be of additional value to our democratic processes and not just amount to a new office and role".
Among the 17 recommendations in the report, the committee calls for the bill to be amended to provide “significant additional powers and functions”, which would include areas such as transport, planning, health, and climate.
Funding was another issue, and following a report by the Implementation Advisory Group, the committee calls for the proposed bill to provide the office of the directly elected mayor with funding and revenue-raising powers. This would include an annual block grant and access to a special sub-fund.
The committee calls for the directly elected mayor to be allowed appoint staff members of their choosing to their office.
It wants the bill to provide for a procedure where the council director general (which will replace the current role of the chief executive) can be sanctioned or removed in the event they are underperforming or “inhibiting delivery of the mayor’s mandate".
Considerations should be given to allowing the mayor the power to reassign the responsibilities of the directors of service within the local authority, the committee stated.
'Príomh comhairleoir' should be replaced with the term 'deputy mayor' or 'leas-mhéara', according to the report, which also calls for the creation of a position that would deputise for the leas-mhéara.
The committee also recommends that the department undertake a detailed analysis on the 2019 Limerick plebiscite, with the aim of improving future public information campaigns, as well as considering lowering the percentage of registered eligible voters required to petition for a mayoral plebiscite.
It is the belief of the committee that the current bill is “not fit for purpose” for the Dublin area and would require a different model.
Regarding the procedure to remove a directly elected mayor, the committee expresses concerns that the matter could be used by opposition parties as a “perpetual political opportunity” for small groups to “constantly impeach” the mayor.
They called the motion to remove a mayor be signed by two-thirds of the council as opposed to half, and that there be no role for the minister or the Oireachtas in the removal of a directly elected mayor.
