A Sinn Féin-led Government would devolve more powers to the directly elected mayor of Limerick, the party’s TD in the city Maurice Quinlivan has said.
He has announced his intention to seek his party’s nomination to contest the mayoral election despite his concerns over the limits of the office.
Sinn Féin’s Ard Chomhairle is expected to make a final decision on the party’s candidate this weekend.
The mayoral election is happening on June 7th, the same day as the local and European elections.
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The job comes with a salary of just more than €154,000 and a budget of €8 million a year to be spent on projects and initiatives.
It is the first office of its kind in Ireland and the most significant power the mayor will have is proposing the annual budget for Limerick City and County Council. This will still have to be approved by councillors.
The new mayor will also propose the five-year Local Development Plan and will have access to Cabinet ministers with a set number of meetings each year.
Mr Quinlivan previously criticised the powers available to the new mayor claiming last year that the legislation underpinning the office was “very disappointing for most people in Limerick”.
He said the new the mayor should have sufficient powers to ensure it “would not just be a ribbon-cutting position”.
He told The Irish Times on Wednesday: “I made those comments deliberately to try to get the Government to enhance what they’re doing but I genuinely do believe that there’s potential to expand this role.
“If I’m elected as Sinn Féin mayor hopefully in a year or so there will be a Sinn Féin minister in Government,” adding that his party has committed to legislate to devolve further powers to the new mayor of Limerick.
Additional powers proposed by the party include giving the mayor the ability to purchase land; bringing municipal waste collection back under council control; and the ability to make Limerick a “living wage local authority” where contracts would go to companies that pay their workers a living wage.
Mr Quinlivan also said the mayor should have a role in policing through direct involvement in new Community Safety Partnerships which are due to replace the existing Joint Policing Committee.
He said antisocial behaviour, crime, drug dealing and addiction are a key issue for Limerick and a focus for him in the job would be “strengthening communities”.
He highlighted housing and trying to deliver social and affordable homes as another big issue.
Mr Quinlivan said one way the mayor could have an impact on this is speeding up the renovation of “200-plus” vacant council-owned homes to bring them back into use saying this can happen “with the political will”.
The other declared candidates in the race are Dee Ryan of Fianna Fáil; Green Party TD Brian Leddin; Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan; People Before Profit’s Ruairí Fahy; Sarah Beasley of Aontú; Dr Laura Keyes of green left-wing party An Rabharta Glas; and Independents John Moran and Helen O’Donnell.
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