MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley expects the first direct election for a Dublin mayor to go ahead in June despite the required legislation not being included in the Government’s priority list for this Dáil session.
A spokesman for Mr Gormley said the reason for the Bill not being included in the programme of legislation for the spring session of the Dáil was “technical” and said the Bill would be published before Easter.
He said the target date for the elections remained June and Mr Gormley had said it was “his hope” that the elections would go ahead then.
The “technical” reason for the Bill’s non-inclusion in the programme was that the Heads of the Bill had first to be formally approved by Cabinet.
The legislation had not reached that stage yet. The Heads of the Bill had been circulated within Government for observation and would be brought to the Government for approval in the coming weeks, the spokesman said.
Once approved by Government, the Bill would go to the Attorney General for drafting and the Bill would be published, debated and enacted.
The spokesman said he was not in a position to give a schedule for the legislation other than to say that the right processes would be in place to facilitate an election for a directly-elected mayor of Dublin to take place this year, hopefully in June.
The proposed mayor of Dublin will be for the entire Dublin region, encompassing the four local authority areas.
Each of the councils will retain their own mayors and in the case of Dublin City Council, its own lord mayor.
The powers of the new mayor will be executive.
When announcing the initiative in Mayo 2009, Mr Gormley said the mayor would be responsible for establishing strategic policy for land-use, waste management, water services and housing across Dublin.
The new mayor will also chair the Dublin Transport Authority. All four local authorities will be required to ensure they comply with plans, strategies and policies that fall within the mayor’s remit.
Opposition parties have attacked the proposals for the lack of detailed information on the roles, responsibilities and powers of the mayor.