Directly elected mayor for Dublin
Deputy Eamon Ryan complained that promised consultation on a directly elected mayor for Dublin had not happened. The Taoiseach said there had been no Cabinet discussion yet, but he saw value in the idea and would check whether anything was moving in the Department.
This day six months ago, we introduced legislation here for a directly-elected mayor of Dublin. Fianna Fáil had a similar Bill on the same issue but we reached agreement with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, that we would defer the Bills for consultation. In the subsequent six months, there has been no consultation whatsoever. I have read the policy papers of Deputies Varadkar and Coveney. Deputy Varadkar's streets are full of frappé cappuccinos and cupcakes but contain precious little information on who is going to be taking Ireland forward other than Leo. Deputy Coveney similarly covers place-making and good green stuff but again, he does not provide the slightest indication as to what will be the political reform to make happen all this place-making, to bring us forward and get everyone into the cupcakes and frappé cappuccino territory.
Has the Government discussed the development of a directly elected mayor for Dublin and how do we progress this in a collaborative way? It was agreed six months ago but nothing has happened. Has it been discussed at Cabinet? Certainly nothing has been discussed with us in the interim.
Comment on this
No, there has been no discussion at the Cabinet table about the idea of a directly-elected mayor for Dublin. I see much value in the idea. Deputy Coveney is involved in other consultations at the moment but I will get back to Deputy Ryan to see if there is anything in the Department that is moving on this issue.