The Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, has meet with the mayors of the four Dublin local authorities to discuss the possibility of a directly elected mayor for the city.
Plans put the idea to people living in Dublin were scrapped earlier this year, vetoed by Fingal County Council. The other councils, including Dublin City, were in favour of the proposal.
Hogan said the local authorities must consider how Dublin as a whole would be managed. The group is due to meet again at the end of October.