Directly elected mayors in local government plan

Minister for the Environment John Gormley has published a new green paper on local government which includes proposals for a regional mayor for Dublin who would be directly elected by 2011.

Speaking at the launch of the Stronger Local Democracy – Options for Changepaper at Government Buildings this afternoon, the Minister said that a mayor acting on behalf of the people of Dublin would make a "huge difference" to the city's future.

The green paper proposes that the person elected as Mayor would be given control of a number of services including planning, housing, waste, water provision and waste water disposal. The paper also proposes that the mayor would act as chair of the newly proposed Dublin Transport Authority.

The paper also proposes the possible introduction of mayors for a number of other cities including Limerick, Waterford and Sligo.

" Stronger Local Democracymakes the case that greater local leadership, accountability and connection with the citizen can be achieved through the provision of directly elected mayors for counties and cities," said Mr Gormley.

The Minister said that no decision had been taken yet with regard to the terms of office for a directly elected mayor for Dublin. He added that while fears have been raised about the likelihood of celebrity candidates running for the position, he wasn’t particularly worried about this possibility.

“In a democratic society anyone should be eligible to run as Mayor. I’m not concerned about celebrity candidates because previous elections have shown that such candidates don’t necessarily fare well," said Mr Gormley.

Also included in the green paper are plans that would strengthen town government by allowing for greater devolution of local decisions from county to town level. A range of initiatives which would allow local people to play a greater role in local decision making is also proposed which includes local plebiscites, petition rights, participatory budgeting and town meetings.

The paper also sets out the issues for debate on the financing of local government which will feed into the work of the recently established Commission on Taxation.

Options for the introduction of local election spending limits are proposed, as is greater oversight of local government ethics compliance by the Standards in Public Office Commission.

Mr Gormley said that the options proposed in the paper suggest ways in which a stonger local government system might be achieved.

“I believe that we have an opportunity now to transform the relationship between our institutions of local government and the local community. There are advantages to be gained by having a stronger local government sector which allows central government to focus on issues of national and strategic importance. I believe this paper shows the direction we need to travel to achieve those aims,” said Mr Gormley.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce welcomed the publication of the paper this afternoon and said it would be forming a detailed response to the proposals included in it over the coming weeks.

"A strong Mayor is needed to provide a single accountable figure, elected by the people, to make sure local authorities work together on issues such as transport, planning, infrastructure provision and economic development," said Gina Quin, CEO, Dublin Chamber.

The Labour Party also welcomed the paper saying that many of the proposals included in it are in line with its own positions.

However, Labour Party spokesperson on Local Government, Ciaran Lynch said that the paper failure to include considerations relating to justice, education and health was a "missed opportunity."

Elsewhere, Fine Gael's Environment Spokesman, Phil Hogan described the plans as being 'high in rhetoric but low in detail.'

"There is no indication in the document of how devolved functions would operate from Central to Local Government, or how local Government will be funded into the future," he said.

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Local Government, Martin Ferris said that the proposals published today do not go far enough.