I move amendment No. 2:—
To delete the section.
Section 11 amalgamates the offices of city manager and town clerk, and the Corporation of Cork are not at all satisfied that this should be so. They regard this section as turning the post of manager into a complete Pooh-Bah for holding all the offices. While, admittedly, sub-section (4) of this section makes provision that this section does not come into operation while the existing town clerk is in office, they maintain that at no future date should such an arrangement be entered into. They regard the position of town clerk as a highly important link between the corporation and the public and between the corporation and the manager. He is a liaison officer.
Incidentally, the people also think that the office of town clerk should be amalgamated with that of the chief rate collector or controller of rates. The rate collecting figures in Cork for the past 12 months have been extremely good under the system in operation at present. Ninety-six per cent. of the rates were collected, and collected at a cost of 1 per cent. Those figures speak for themselves. If the Minister were to accept this amendment he would be meeting the wishes, not only of the Cork Corporation, but of the citizens of Cork generally and, after all, they are the people most affected by this Bill.