I will be brief. Senator Moynihan spoke on amendments Nos. 40, 41, and 44 to 46, inclusive, and I concur with her. She set out the rationale and the argument concisely. I join with her, support those amendments and speak in favour of them.

I absolutely agree with this. Senator Boylan has made it clear. The Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, uses the d'Hondt system. Many local authorities use the d'Hondt system for various committees and sub-committees. It is important that it is representative. It gives support and legitimacy to what are, in effect, equal, valued members of a local authority. They have been elected by the people. They are in a local democracy, a local parliament. For far too long, we have had sub-divisions based on politica…

I support these amendments. I am particularly interested in amendment No. 76. Senators Garvey and Pauline O’Reilly are not present to move it, but may I discuss it?

The amendment is interesting and I thank the Senators for their support. They are Government Members and they have a view on the amendment. I would be interested in hearing what the Minister of State has to say. The Senators’ focus is on the Climate Change Advisory Council and the knowledge and experience around practicalities that it possesses. The Senators are members of the Green Party, which is in the tripartite coalition Government with the Minister of State, so I presume he has had time to consider and reflec…

I note the Minister of State’s comments on amendment No. 76, but climate change and climate action are at the very heart of local government and are Government policy. The Government empowered local authorities in this regard and there is a great deal of focus on climate change. The Department of local government is responsible for them. In fairness, the Minister of State commends them constantly. We know the importance and significance of local councils driving action on climate change. While we are not focusing o…

From my experience in local government, this already exists. Many local councils enter all sorts of partnerships be they commercial or environmental. We see it with a whole load of agendas, particularly within the European Union. We see all sorts of partnerships. We see locally elected members of councils and local authorities having exchange programmes and going to different parts of different parliaments. I think this really all exists. Does it need to be anywhere special for Limerick? It does not need to be any …

To carry on there, I know this is structural, but all through the Bill the mayor can devolve some or all of his functions to the chief executive. I ask the Minister of State to hear me out. The real issue is responsibility, and the word "responsible". Ultimately, the mayor can devolve functions; they will be less effective. Not every mayor will have qualifications in accountancy, economics, engineering or whatever else. A chief executive of a local authority has multiple functions. As a general rule, I am quite sup…

I can see why Senator Higgins would not lose any opportunity to promote the sustainable development goals. I fully commend her on doing so. She continues to highlight them at every opportunity. Ireland has signed up to the sustainable development goals. As for the local authorities, the preamble to my local authority's county development plan refers to its significance and the authority's commitment to it. I would be surprised if any county or city development plan does not include acknowledgement and recognition i…

Again, I support Senator Higgins. She has set out very clearly the rationale behind her amendment on the rights of persons with disabilities. We have designated disability officers in our local authorities, or we should have. There may be a gap or vacancy currently but there are designated disability officers. I make the point, and it is important we raise this in the House, that there are a lot of shortcomings. I have experienced and have had people make representations to me on accessing services locally. I do no…

I move amendment No. 85: In page 30, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “Implementation of regeneration projects 38. (1) The Mayor shall be responsible for the implementation and management of regeneration projects in the Limerick City and County Council area. (2) The Mayor shall be required to submit an annual report that will be reviewed by members of the Local Authority before it is submitted to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.”. The amendment speaks for itself. I know the…

Before I address the Minister of State's response, I will acknowledge Senator Paul Gavan, because I did not see him. He lives there and I fully respect his knowledge and experience of the city. He has certainly shared that with us over his many years here in the Seanad. He has shared challenges and concerns about regeneration projects but he has also shared with us the vibrancy of Limerick city and county. I just want to acknowledge that the Senator is here and that he is a very active and strong ambassador for Lim…

I will wait until he has finished consulting with his officials. I appreciate that he is an ever-moving and ever-thinking Minister of State. He may be taking the opportunity to further reflect on what he has said. Perhaps he will change his mind. I will continue to talk about the rationale behind my own opinion. We are dealing with primary legislation. Earlier on, someone spoke about mayoral leadership, following and being an ambassador for the county and the city. The Minister of State represents this wonderful ci…

If someone shakes their head at me again, I will stand for another 20 minutes and rehash this. I am making that point now.

If I get a sense that nobody in this Chamber understands what I am saying, I will spend 30 minutes repeating myself.

I know I am. I am just telling the Acting Chairperson that. I will go back over it all again. I am asking the Minister of State to support this amendment. As I said, he is a TD and is responsible. He has form. He is on record as saying that he supports the principles of this amendment. That is what he has said. This is his hour, his moment and his time. He has the opportunity to support it. Either he supports these two asks or he does not. It is as simple as that. People are looking in here. They will be shaking th…

That is grand.

I will correct the record. I am saying that I have concerns about a potential guillotine but the Minister of State has now informed us there will be none. That is okay. I am exercising my prerogative in respect of this primary legislative process today. I ask the Minister of State to agree to this amendment. If he does not, I have to respect that decision. We will continue to work in the spirit of co-operation. I will call a vote. I rest my case.

The Minister of State used the word "focused". This amendment contains a simple request. The Minister of State says that he agrees with the spirit of the amendment and is on record on local media, including local radio, speaking in favour of the mayor driving regeneration projects. I do not doubt his commitment to that and I do not think he wants to change his position on that. Why would he? His simple message is that it is all great and is already catered for but if that is the case, why oppose the amendment? What…

I wish to respond. I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is reasonable and fair. I deal in things that are reasonable and fair. I accept his bona fides. He is the Minister of State with responsibility for this. As someone who lives in Limerick, he is a major stakeholder in it. That is more important and it convinces me that he wants this to work. In the sprit of co-operation, I am happy to work and engage with the Minister of between now and Report Stage. My proposal is reasonable and fair and it can b…

I hope the Minister of State is not going to unravel what he said and go back on his commitment.