Is the Bill opposed?

Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I welcome the Bill on the directly elected mayor for Limerick, but I have to say that with a big caution. Really in this country we have the Civil Service and the county managers running the country. I am sick and tired of it. The time has come. I will give just one example of it. In Mayo today, two thirds of the business property in the county was revalued. For one third of these businesses their rates went up. These are small little businesses. Why are we paying rates to the council? …

I had the courage to go to the courts. I lost it but I did not get a lot of support in this House. The day we got rid of the town councils and the day we got the elected representatives such as Deputies taken off county councils was a sad day because we handed over their powers to the county managers. They get two or three from Fianna Fáil, two or three from the Independents, and two or three from whichever else, and they go in and cuddle the manager and they kiss the manager and they give them a little job in here…

You listen to me-----

You listen to me. I am the only one-----

I was the only one who sat over there when nobody in this House voted against it - nobody. The Deputy can go back and check the record. I was the only one who was prepared to vote against it. No party opposed it.

Be quiet you-----

-----because I am always listening to you. You listen to me now for a while.

What we need now is to get rid of the county councils and bring back the local-----

The people will get rid you the next time; you had better watch out now. You just watch it. All you are is a mouth, an aul mouth that is always mouthing in here and who has never done anything about any place. On the local authorities, the Minister of State needs to bring back the town councils and extend them. We should have five or six districts in every county but we should not have six county managers. We should get rid of them, and we should have a manager in each district and they should have their own budget…

I will test the Minister of State. I am sorry, I am going to finish, a Cheann Comhairle. I want to ask the Minister of State again, and I am asking him to respond. Will he put the local authorities under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General? I have asked the Taoiseach. For whatever reason and whatever powers they have, by God, they are afraid of the county managers.

Will Deputy Gould sit down? We always listen to the Deputy.

When I was in government, I delivered.

All the Deputy ever did was talk, talk, talk and bring people outside the Dáil. That is all the Deputy ever did. The Deputy is a talker. I am a deliverer and I delivered when I was there.

The Deputy never delivered anything, or anyone in Sinn Féin.

Go away, Sinn Féin. You have destroyed the country. Liz Truss-----

I will tell the Deputy one thing, we do not want you in government, whatever we have.

This is what democracy is about - telling the truth.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting my matter tonight. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who at least has the manners to come in. I thank her for that. I am raising this very important issue of St. Brendan's nursing home in Mulranny. It is a tremendous facility with a wonderful reputation, opened in 1998. It is a rural based nursing home that provides many people with opportunities to remain and live in their own village. It is a not-for-profit nursing home and a registered charity but it is class…