Vote for first directly-elected mayor of Limerick set for next June under plans approved by Cabinet

People in Limerick are to have an opportunity to vote for the person they want to be the city’s first directly-elected mayor next June under plans approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.

The election will take place on the same day as the Local and European Elections which are slated to happen on an as yet undecided date between June 6th and 9th 2024.

The vote to select a directly-elected mayor will come five years after the successful 2019 plebiscite which saw the people of Limerick vote in favour of creating the office.

Proposals for directly elected mayors in Cork and Waterford were defeated.

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Dubliners may separately have a chance to vote next June on whether or not they want to have a directly-elected mayor.

A Citizens’ Assembly on local government in Dublin voted for the creation of a powerful new mayor with wide-ranging responsibilities in areas including housing, homelessness and transport.

However, its report has been referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Local Government for consideration.

The committee now has until the end of the year to deliberate on the findings of the Citizens’ Assembly and no decision has yet been taken on the timing of a plebiscite in the capital.

The Government will this week publish draft legislation to deliver a directly elected mayor with executive functions for Limerick.

The Cabinet decided the election will be held when the country goes to the polls in the Local and European Elections next June.

Minister of State for Local Government Kieran O’Donnell welcomed the legislation saying it will allow the people of Limerick city and county to directly elect a mayor “with significant powers”.

The Fine Gael TD added: “There is huge potential to develop service delivery and accountability locally, and to add value for all the people of Limerick.”

The draft Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023 – to be published this week – will provide for the establishment of the office of mayor and its mayoral functions.

It also sets out the governance structures to support the office and provides a code for the election of the mayor.

The legislation also makes provision for holding plebiscites in other local authority areas on the question of whether to directly elect a mayor.

Under the plans Limerick City and County Council will have a “three pillar” structure comprising of the elected councillors, the directly elected mayor and the director general.

The elected council is to “retain its primacy” and have a governance role in the performance of the mayor who will be accountable to the councillors.

The mayor will take on executive functions, at a strategic or policy level, in areas including housing, road transport and safety and proposing the development plan for the local authority.

The mayor will be responsible for proposing the annual budget to councillors who will vote on whether or not to adopt it.

Other reserved functions for councillors include altering the Local Property Tax rate, making a City and County Development Plan and selling or disposing of Council land.

The current chief executive of Limerick City and County Council will become the director general, and will have “operational responsibility” for the running of the Council.

These include managing and accounting for the council’s finances, HR and local authority staffing matters, and legal proceedings and enforcement matters relating to individual schemes or grants.