OPINION:A mayor with the mandate of 1.2m voters will give the capital the strong voice it needs, writes JOHN GORMLEY

IN IRELAND we have always liked our local government weak. Central government doesn’t like creating alternative centres of power, so it has kept local authorities and their members in a relatively powerless position, largely devoid of policy input.

As a result the government of the day exercised great control over some decisions that should be made locally. Officials, rather than councillors, took important decisions.

In the Dublin region, that’s about to change. The planned directly elected mayor for Dublin will first achieve a mandate for his or her vision for the city and will then be able to go about implementing it, even if central government is not too happy about it.

Some commentary in recent days on this has been quite bizarre. People who have demanded such a development for years have found ways of dismissing this new post as one of little consequence, wielding little power.

The bottom line is that the new mayor will be elected this year, despite the scepticism that has been displayed, which is a year in advance of the original programme for government commitment. The mayor will have the power to direct councils and their officials to implement policy in relation to waste, planning, water and the other important areas. The word “direct” has a clear meaning. He or she will have real power – a power which comes from the law, rather than from exercising control over routine administrative budgets.

The mayor will set out strategic policy across Dublin. He or she will establish policy frameworks for the Dublin region in land-use planning – and therefore housing, waste management and water services. The mayor will have a strong role in transport and traffic management throughout the region. The legislation will give the mayor the authority and powers to implement – yes implement – the policies which he or she and the revamped Dublin Regional Authority lay down.

And seeing as the mayor will set out and implement strategic policy for the capital, I would hope that at each mayoral election we will have a lively and high-quality debate on what that strategic policy will be. An electoral mandate from a population base of 1.2 million will give the mayor a unique sanction in Irish political life to act as leader and advocate for Dublin. This is the kind of voice that has long been needed for the capital city.

When I published the outline of the Bill allowing for this directly elected mayor last week, The Irish Times chose a negative headline to announce the innovation: “New mayor of Dublin not to have own budget”. While the analysis itself was balanced, this headline set the tenor of much of the debate that followed.

The new mayor of Dublin will not need his or her own budget. The four Dublin local authorities already have a combined budget of €1.5 billion, not counting capital expenditure of a further €1.5 billion.

They will continue to use this to fund all operational activities. But these activities will take place within the policy framework set out by the mayor, and when necessary s/he will direct that this policy framework be followed.

Some have drawn comparisons with the alleged superior budgetary power of the mayor of London. The London mayor and London Assembly has published a 2010 budget of £3.2 billion. However, £3.1 billion of this budget is for the Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority – most of it for the police, and most of which the mayor has no discretion over. Ireland has a national police force and there is no desire to change that.

The London mayor’s power doesn’t come from his “control” over this budget, and he does not control local authority budgets. Rather, his power comes from his ability to set the policy framework for London’s future development. The mayor sets the agenda in which the local councils must operate. This will be precisely the model used in Dublin.

Let me outline a few areas where the new mayor will make a real difference. In the Planning and Development Bill, which I have before the Dáil, I am giving teeth to strong regional planning. The mayor of Dublin will now give regional planning local political leadership, transparency and accountability.

In the past waste management planning decisions were taken off councillors and given to managers. I am giving a democratically elected mayor, and a more focused regional authority, the responsibility of setting down the strategic plans to which the four Dublin local authorities must work.

The recent weather damage has highlighted the challenges facing Dublin in providing an adequate supply of drinking water and waste water treatment over the coming decades. The mayor will set down the water services strategy to cater for the region’s needs. The Government is committed to capital support for these vital services and local authorities will continue to deliver.

The transformation of the public transport system will be accelerated in the coming years. What’s missing in Dublin is strong local democratic input and leadership to guide this process. The mayor will provide this input while the Government is committed to providing the capital resources.

Our current local government model cannot give Dublin the international voice given to cities by the likes of Michael Bloomberg in New York and Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson in London. Dublin needs such a voice.

I am also setting up a new regional development board to bring together leaders in local government, commerce, education, enterprise and other key partners. The mayor’s mandate will give him or her the authority to hold these sectors to account in delivering for Dublin.

I see the mayor’s role as expanding, not diminishing and there is a mandatory review of the powers after two years of operation. Furthermore, the Government is examining how to provide stronger regional and local government for the country, and the provision of revenue-raising powers for local authorities. I would see the mayor as being pivotal to any such new powers in the Dublin region.

I believe that I am providing the right mix of powers to deliver leadership for Dublin, a co-ordinated approach to planning our future and a cost-effective structure to deliver what we need. The four Dublin local authorities between them have a budget of over €3 billion, half of which relates to capital expenditure. The mayor’s powers will be implemented primarily through those authorities.

It would have been easy to create a mayor with control over administrative budgets, responsible to radio phone-in shows for every traffic light, speed ramp and snowbound street in the capital. But this would have given us an administrator, not a mayor. “Creating an extra level of administration at a time of financial scarcity makes little or no sense,” declared the editorial in this newspaper last week. Indeed. We don’t want to elect a mayor who is expected to fix potholes or grit the roads. We need a mayor who can set out and implement a vision for the city and region and that’s what we’re going to get.

John Gormley is Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government and leader of the Green Party