merrion street

The elected members of Fingal County Council this afternoon did not adopt the resolution for holding a plebiscite on the establishment of an office of directly elected Mayor for the Dublin Metropolitan Area.

Phil Hogan T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government said “I respect the rights of the elected members of each local authority to come to their own decision on important policy matters in relation to their own area.”

Minister Hogan pointed out that the statutory requirement is for the same resolution in regard to a plebiscite to be passed by all 4 authorities, and this has not been achieved by the elected members of the 4 authorities. “The statutory requirement of a majority of the councillors in each of the four Dublin local authorities being required to support the plebiscite was high, as it was necessary to ensure that there was genuine political consensus amongst the members on their view on the best governance arrangements for the office of directly elected mayor for Dublin.”

Minister Hogan added“it was a matter for the elected members to form their own views, and it is clear that there is not a consensus across the Dublin authorities that would enable a plebiscite to be held.”

The effect of the Fingal vote is that there will not now be a plebiscite at the time of the local elections in May on a proposal for an office of directly elected mayor across the 4 Dublin authorities constituting the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Minister Hogan concluded “any further consideration of proposals for a directly elected mayor must take place after the local elections. I gave the opportunity to the elected members to develop a proposal for a plebiscite. They have not achieved a consensus, and further assessment of options must await the new councils to be elected in May”.