Mayor's role must be 'cost-effective'

DUBLIN SOUTH:FIANNA FÁIL byelection candidate Shay Brennan has said the introduction of a directly-elected mayor for Dublin should not be done in such a way that it would cost taxpayers more money.

Mr Brennan, the party’s candidate in Dublin South, said there should be no replication of mistakes that were made in the setting up of the Health Service Executive where extra layers of bureaucracy were created.

Mr Brennan is standing for the seat held by his late father Séamus Brennan, but faces an uphill battle against Fine Gael’s George Lee and the Labour Party’s candidate Senator Alex White.

Dublin will have its first directly-elected mayor next year following an announcement last week by Minister for the Environment John Gormley. The mayor will have responsibility for transport, planning and waste management across the four Dublin local authorities and will have the salary of a Minister.

Mr Brennan said the mayor’s budget should come from within the existing budget of the four local authorities.

“The new role must be cost-effective, efficient and have real executive powers to improve our city’s infrastructure, transport and promote it as a destination for business, job creation and tourism,” Mr Brennan said.

Meanwhile, his constituency rival George Lee has called for the abolition of the Seanad.

Mr Lee said that it was a “disgrace” that the Seanad had not sat last Tuesday while members were at the Oireachtas Golf Society event, held at Portmarnock Golf Club.

“In the first four months of the year until the end of April, 93,000 people went on the dole while they met for 40 days, while they . . . sat there planning their golf outing. It is an absolute outrage,” he said.

An impassioned Mr Lee told RTÉ's The Week In Politicsprogramme on Sunday night that Senators should all "consider their position. They need to go".

When pressed by presenter Seán O’Rourke as to whether he advocated closing down the Seanad, Mr Lee responded: “Would we care? The 93,000 is what it is about and the fact that unemployment is heading towards 600,000 while they are there lining their pockets and claiming their expenses and doing very little for the people.

“I really couldn’t be bothered if they are shut down. It’s a disgrace.”