The first step in the process of local government reform that will see a directly elected mayor in Dublin in four years' time is to be launched by Minister for the Environment and Local Government John Gormley today.
The Minister intends to begin a consultative process that will lead to the production of a Green Paper by the end of this year.
Among the key areas to be addressed are:
how a directly elected mayor will operate in Dublin and what powers he or she will have;
whether there should be directly elected mayors elsewhere;
whether there needs to be a shift in power from the local authority manager and officials to elected councillors;
the question of new town councils for the newly developed large communities.
Mr Gormley said he intended to launch the consultation process quickly and he wanted to get the views of the public and of councillors.
"It has often been argued that we don't have real local government here; we have local administration. I have heard that said so many times at council meetings," he said. "The aim is to have a directly elected lord mayor in Dublin by 2011. That is going to take a lot of doing but we are going to put our backs into it."
The Minister said that one of the big questions was whether the mayor of Dublin should represent the city or the whole county, which covers four council areas.
"What I said during the programme for government negotiations was that we should look at London and see how that operated. It seems to me there is a blueprint there," he said.
"In terms of Dublin," Mr Gormley said, "I think as a leading European capital, we do need someone in place to look after it."
"There has been a trend towards empowering the managers and there has also been a trend away from councillors. On very small issues sometimes councillors don't have any power at all and that is why I want to listen to councillors."
Mr Gormley added that at present mayors had little power and their function was symbolic. "I know that is important but I feel it has to go beyond that."
Advertisements seeking submissions from the public will appear in the national and local press in the coming weeks.