O’Sullivan calls for review of salary of directly elected Mayors

Limerick Labour T.D Jan O’Sullivan has called for a review of the salary and cost of the office of the directly elected mayors of Limerick, Waterford and Cork. 

Deputy O’Sullivan said:

“The total cost of the office is €450’000 for the mayor and two special advisors. I am calling on the Minister to clarify why the office will cost nearly half a million euro a year.”

“There is a real risk that the cost of the office could become the focal point of the plebiscite and this is due to the Government’s failure to meaningfully engage with the public about this proposal.”

“A directly elected mayor is an exciting opportunity to strengthen local democracy in Ireland and will remove some of the democratic deficit at local authority level as we have one of the weakest systems of local government in Europe.”

“However the ham-fisted way the Government are miscommunicating the proposal is putting it in jeopardy.”

“The launch of the information campaign yesterday was attended by a number of journalists but not a single member of the public.”

“There should be an opportunity for people who will be making this decision to at the very least attend a town hall style forum with a representative of the Government. A media campaign and a few leaflets won’t suffice.”