Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 May 2013
487. Deputy Tom Barry asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider, as part of the process of reforming local government, that the elected mayor of each county would carry executive function, along with their reserve role. [23853/13]
View answerThe Government's Action Programme for Effective Local Government provides that primacy of the elected council within the local government system will be reinforced , and provides for the appropriate allocation of roles between the council with the executive and the separation of powers between the leadership, oversight and policy elements, which rest with the elected council, and the implementation element, which will rest with the executive.
Implementation of the Action Programme will enable Mayors/Cathaoirligh to exercise strong leadership in relation to the strategic, policy formulation and representational role of the authority i n the interests of stronger governance, and will provide a more effective policy role for elected members .
The position of the local authority manager will be altered to that of Chief Executive, better to reflect the primary function of the manager /chief executive position in implementing policy determined by the elected council. It is not proposed that the elected Mayor /Cathaoirleach of each county would carry executive functions.
In the case of the Dublin authorities, I have asked the Lord Mayor of Dublin to convene a colloquium or forum of the elected members of the four authorities to consider the options for introducing of a directly elected Mayor for the Dublin metropolitan area, which would be put for decision to a plebiscite in 2014. In this regard, I have invited the colloquium to consider the functions an d role of a directly elected Mayor. I have asked for the outcome of the colloquium by end-year, to allow Government take appropriate decisions on the next steps in preparation of the plebiscite .
