Over €4m announced to support directly elected mayor in Limerick

A BUDGET of over €4.3M will be provided to help assist the establishment of directly elected mayor in Limerick, it has been announced.

The €4.327M is to support the establishment of the office and to provide for a mayoral budget to the directly elected mayor in their role, and the delivery of their mayoral programme.

Furthermore, the Budget 2024 has also provided for €300,000 in respect of a public awareness campaign to be carried out well in advance of the Limerick Directly elected Mayoral Election.

The funding was announced, yesterday, Tuesday by Minister of State for Planning and Local Government, Kieran O’Donnell as part of the Budget 2024.

“It is important to note that this 2024 funding of €4.327m reflects that the Mayoral election will be held in early June 2024, on the same date as the Local and European Elections,” Minister O’Donnell said.

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“Therefore, the directly elected Mayor will only be in office for the second half of the year and will have four months from taking up office within which they must prepare a mayoral programme, setting out their priorities and key objectives for their term of office.

“A Directly Elected Mayor of Limerick is one of the most significant reforms of local government since the foundation of our state, and is a key Programme for Government commitment,” he said.

The minister continued: “I am currently progressing the necessary legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas with a view to enactment by the end of the year.

“The legislation provides the mandate, structures and means to deliver on the ambition of the office of the first directly elected mayor of Limerick. Government is supporting this reform with the necessary funding in Budget 2024”.

“I look forward to working with colleagues across the Oireachtas in the coming months to pass this historic legislation,” he added.