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A DRAFT REPORT prepared by Dublin’s four local authorities recommends that a directly-elected mayor for the capital be given wide-ranging executive powers that would dramatically alter the way many services are administered in the city and surrounding areas.
A report prepared by the forum considering the introduction of a directly-elected mayor for the Dublin Metropolitan Area proposes to transfer powers from some State agencies and government departments to a newly-created mayor’s office.
The four councils – the city council, South Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, and Fingal – came together earlier this year to establish a forum for consultation on a directly-elected mayor.
In its draft report, seen by TheJournal.ie, it states that there is a strong public backing for the idea with an online poll showing 78 per cent of respondents in favour of a directly-elected ‘first citizen’.
The report recommends that the matter be put to the people of Dublin in a referendum in May 2014 and that, if approved, an election for a mayor would take place on the same day as the next local elections.
The mayor’s term of office would be five years with the opportunity for re-election. Nominations could be sought either through a registered political party or with 1,000 signatures from people on the electoral register in Dublin.
The mayor would appoint a cabinet that could be made up not just of councillors but of other persons, opening up the possibility that experts in certain fields could be involved in the running of the capital.
A Dublin Assembly of local councillors would hold the mayor and his cabinet to account with the ability to remove the mayor from power by a two-thirds majority.
The Assembly would also have to approve the mayor’s Cabinet and his or her annual budget. All meetings between the mayor and the assembly would be held in public.
The Dublin Assembly would consist of five councillors form each local authority as well as the chairs of each LA. The councillors would be nominated using a ‘group’ election system, which is similar to the D’Hondt system, on the basis of party and independent strength.
The most significant change brought about by the proposed mayor system would be, according to the draft report, the transfer of certain powers and funding for state agencies, such as the gardaí and the IDA, to the office of the directly-elected mayor.
The draft report proposes that the mayor would have “executive and strategic” responsibility for transport and traffic, environment, waste management, tourism, economic development, housing, planning, and fire services among others.
This would mean that bodies such as the National Transport Authority, the National Roads Authority, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland would have some of their responsibilities and funding in Dublin transferred to the office of the directly-elected mayor.
While in the case of housing, the Department of Environment’s responsibilities for the Dublin area would switch to the office of the mayor. This would also be the case with the Office of Public Works and its responsibilities for public parks such as the Phoenix Park.
On a national level the mayor would also have a strategic role in the areas of water, policing, emergency services, education, health and welfare, social services and promoting the Irish language in Dublin.
The forum believes that 100 per cent of the local property tax collected in Dublin and an unspecified percentage of the forthcoming water charges should be retained in the capital.
Other changes would see councillors who chair the four Dublin local authorities no longer holding roles like Lord Mayor or Cathaoirleach, but they will instead be seen as deputies to the elected mayor and will have representational roles in their respective areas.
In its draft report, the forum the says that the rationale for such a office is based on then need for a “strong coherent local government and accountability for the Dublin Metropolitan area”, noting that the current system of governance is “not sufficiently robust”.
The report says that a directly-elected executive mayor creates “a strong focal point for effective and accountable decision making” and also identifies “scope for savings and efficiencies” in consolidating all of the issues that affect the capital under one office.
Concerns are raised about concentrating executive power in the hands of one person and their appointed team, with the report stating that there is a “risk of an unsuitable person being elected to such an office”.
The draft report is currently being sent to over 100 councillors for their feedback before it is submitted to the Minister for the Environment.
Phil Hogan is then likely to make changes and send it back to the councils in the New Year. Each of the four councils will then have to vote on the proposal by March.
An absolute majority of councillors on all four councils will be needed in order for the referendum to be held, at the same time as the local and European Elections next year.
It’s understood that if the proposal is not passed by all four councils, there will be no plebiscite.
If Tokyo shot down a drone, which is basically a peice of machinery, I cant see how it could be deemed an act of war, especially when no citizen of China was harmed in any way. Its like if I left my ride on lawn mower out side and my neighbour blew it up, I’d say ah Fred, for fu*ks sake, what are you like. But if Fred tried to blow up my mower while I was on it, then I’d jump fence armed with the rose pruner and turn baritone Fred into a soprano.
Think you need to move house mate, that Fred chap sounds a right bollix.
Ireland should start developing drones through our technology colleges. We’ve got great aeronautical and computer expertise. We could develop valuable intellectual property for export.
I’d rather we didn’t get involved in an industry that espouses extra-judicial killings.
It’s unlikely, in China’s case anyway, that their plan is to use these things for weather, mapping etc.
They are made to kill at a distance, asymmetrical warfare at its most obvious. We don’t need to get involved. It’s dirty. Just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean we should.
We don’t need to use our colleges to develop drone technology. That’s what we have politics for. Strap wings on ‘em and point them straight up…
No wonder this country will never get anyplace with those sort of attitudes.
Drones are used in certain places to deliver goods to remote areas inaccessible by land. Others are used for research purposes or to aid in search and rescue operations. A drone is not exclusively a weapon of war.
By the start of 2014 ireland will have a debt of approximately 205billion. If you want a future for your kids, we should explore every possible avenue that will excell our growth. If our skill set is building drones, then lets builld them and create thousands of high paid jobs for graduates. With a 205billion debts, its very simple, beggers cant be choosers!
Drone, drone, drone, drone, it’s all so depressing.
On a brighter note it’s Friday and accoring to statistics lots of people are having sex right now.
I’m done!
Might do it again later.
Your hand doesn’t count Jim
I feel safer already.
Excellent drone work.
Like most chinese made things the batteries will wear out after a few hours and the thing will have fallen apart within a month.
God be with the days when all you had to do was call the A team….
Drone on truck in main picture is wrong one, wings are straight… not delta shaped as the article (or indeed the BBC article) points out
It’s 2013, the wings orientation shouldn’t an issue.
What’s even more amusing about the picture is the truck in camouflage green with the very discreet white-wall tyres. Sure, nobody would notice those out in the countryside…..
They are parade trucks,not actual combat vechicles.
The big question of course is where will this end ? . So soon we can see China taking out dissidents in London or New York ? Iran taking out dissidents in Istanbul ? Or for example in former times The British Government liquidating suspects in Dublin or Dundalk ? With the risk of (Some) collateral damage ? Under which international law will drone attacks operate ?
Padric. You might want to look closer to home. Tibetan dissidents in Napal.
I hardly think the Chinese will be sending columns of flying drones over the skies of London or New York to bomb dissidents especially when a poisoned umbrella or concrete shoes will do the trick just as easily. It’s worked quite well for the Russians
@ Mick : I exaggerate a little about London and New York of course, but there must be a provision for this “relatively new phenomenon” written into the Geneva Convention, or some such international law which forbids the use of drone strikes across national borders aimed at extra-judicial killings. Otherwise this will get completely out of hand.
In Cantonese it’s called Hu Flung Dung.
Does the drone pictured mounted on the truck seem a bit small?
Both the Predator & Reaper drones seem much larger.
I wonder what ordnance it could carry & its range doing so?
I doubt it could reach Japan…… probably scares the sh*t out of Taiwan though.
Drones wouldn’t scare any modern force really. They’re big, slow targets with practically no ability for evasive manoeuvres past a few basic programmed moves and very little in the way of countermeasures. Iran also showed that anyone with even a basic understanding of the technology can essentially shut down a drone.
They’re useful for observing an area with absolutely no air defences and can be of limited combat value. Anything more and you really need to call in a manned, supersonic jet with much more ordnance and countermeasures. Something which almost everyone has at this stage.
I’m a bit skeptical about Iran’s ability to bring down that drone. It’s speculated that it could have been a modern Trojan horse, used to deliver targeted malware. We know the US have targeted Iran with malware before; Stuxnet.
Jason is right Barry.
Predators for example are propellor driven, and travel around 400mph at best.
A 1970s jet or any half decent SAM site can pick them off easily enough.
The MiG fighters employed by Iran are more than a match for any drone currently in service.
You must not know of the incident in question, Ricky. Iran claimed they hacked the drone while in flight and commanded it to land. It was undamaged and they said they plan to reverse engineer it. They did not shoot it down.
I heard of the incident,….. i assumed it was just downed by an iranian missile.
China is a bit behind these other boys “Senior analyst Gen. McInerney warns that US is in comparable danger to pre-WWII period, specifically from Russian and Iranian hegemonies.”
Next they be thinking for themselves
Our experts busies in inventing drones an other war high tech technology but how about this Doomsday Debate: Asteroid Threat Could Divide Society. If our God permit this such as the 1979 vn that have an absolute magnitude of 13.2 and the rolling of the moon will come up all the things that we have in this planet will erases that we may pull back in the old days that uses horse and sword that only only came face to face during war. And no civilian casualties.
have your say