The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, has called for a referendum on how Dublin should be governed. The party's local election manifesto, published yesterday, also proposes rebuilding the city's neighbourhoods with the aim of increasing community solidarity.
The policy document on Dublin, A New Deal for the Millennium, is designed to "counteract the widespread sense of powerlessness among Dublin dwellers," according to Fine Gael.
The referendum would ask the electorate if a mayor should be elected by citizens and have executive power - for example, the right to decide on planning issues - or be elected from the council.
Other proposals are to locate shopping centres, public services and healthcare facilities in the suburbs, and to link outlying areas by bus routes and reduce the number of routes through the city centre.
The party is fielding 54 candidates in Dublin's local elections, and Mr Bruton said: "Fine Gael believes that a failure of vision and an acceptance of second best has left the city's citizens trapped by ever-worsening public services. Chaotic queueing has replaced proper planning."
He said the quality of life for children in the capital was suffering. "Children must cope as much as adults with appalling public transport services. Children's journeys by car to school multiply and cause congestion because their parents cannot trust public transport."