The new directly elected mayor of Limerick will be paid just under €152,000 per year, have a staff of up to five people, and must not have another job that would interfere with their role, under the plans for setting up the office.
The Government intends to hold the first election for a mayor of Limerick City and County next June at the same time as the Local and European elections.
The proposed legislation to create the office, the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023, was published on Thursday.
It sets out rules for candidates in the mayoral election campaign, how the office will work, and the multi-stage process for removing mayors on the grounds of misbehaviour or failure to perform functions.
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The Bill – which has not yet been passed by the Oireachtas – also provides for the holding of plebiscites in other local authority areas on the question of whether or not to have a directly elected mayor.
Under the plans plebiscites will be held if a council approves a proposal to hold one; if there is a petition signed by 20 per cent of voters in a local authority area; or if the Minster directs that a vote be held.
The Government has already signalled plans to potentially hold such a plebiscite in Dublin next June.
A successful 2019 plebiscite saw the people of Limerick vote in favour of creating the office. Similar proposals in Cork and Waterford were defeated. In 2020 Galway City Council passed a motion calling for a plebiscite on a proposal for a directly elected mayor with executive functions.
The Department of Housing and Local Government said the Limerick salary is “set at an equivalent salary to Chief Executive of Local Authority level V, which is currently €151,856”.
The proposed legislation details the rules around donations to mayoral candidates and what must be disclosed to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).
It also sets a limit of €72,100 on the election expenses that can be incurred by or on behalf of a candidate.
The limit for individual Dáil candidates in the Limerick City and County constituencies during the 2020 General Election stood at €37,650 and €30,150 respectively or €67,800 when aggregated. Those constituencies broadly make up the electoral area for the mayoral election.
The €72,100 spending cap set for the mayoral election reflects the limits for these constituencies but also takes into account consumer price index changes that have happened since the Dáil election caps were set.
The legislation allows for the reimbursement of mayoral election expenses up to the value of €18,500 to all candidates whose vote exceeds a quarter of the quota.
The mayor will take on executive functions, at a strategic or policy level, in areas including housing, road transport and safety and proposing the development plan for the local authority. They will be responsible for proposing the annual budget to councillors who will vote on whether or not to adopt it.
Under the legislation the mayor – while holding office – cannot engage in any trade, profession, vocation or other occupation, paid or not, “which might reasonably be seen to be capable of interfering or to be incompatible with the performance of his or her functions as mayor”.
They will be in office for five years to coincide with the term of elected councillors and the mayor will be limited to a maximum of two terms.
The legislation provides for the mayor to be assigned up to five staff from the council or four if they also wish to appoint their own special adviser.
The mayor will also have to meet Government Ministers on a number of occasions during the year.
They will participate in a Limerick Mayoral and Government Consultative Forum along with the Minister for Housing and Local Government and other Ministers “to advise the Minister on matters affecting Limerick or the performance of the mayoral function”.
This forum is to meet at least every five to seven months.
There are also annual meetings with the Ministers of Public Expenditure and Transport related to the delivery of the Project Ireland 2040 plan that concern Limerick.
The legislation also set out a multi-stage process for removing mayors on the grounds of misbehaviour or failure to perform functions.
A removal proposal must be signed by at least two-thirds of the Council’s members and, after the mayor has had a chance to respond, be voted for by at least three-quarters of councillors.
The Minister is then informed of the outcome of the meeting and they must set up an independent panel to make a recommendation to the minister on the removal order. The mayor also has an opportunity to make a statement to this panel.
The panel then makes a preliminary recommendation – with another opportunity for the mayor and others to respond – before a final recommendation is made.
If the Minister accepts a removal order recommendation the proposal to get rid of the mayor must be passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas.
