Agenda and minutes

The Lord Mayor opened the meeting by expressing condolence to the families and friends of the following who died recently:-

·        Anne Fagan, Mother of Councillor Gaye Fagan who died 21st December 2017.

·        Enriqueta MacVeigh, Mother of Councillor Tina MacVeigh who died 6th January 2018.

·        Doreen Ryan mother of Mary Taylor, Senior Executive Officer, Ballymun Area Office 

A minute’s silence was held as a mark of respect to the deceased.

The Lord Mayor then congratulated Councillor Kieran Binchy & his wife on the arrival of their baby son. He then went on to inform the Members that he had met with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD that afternoon at Government Buildings. He said that during the meeting, he raised the concerns of the City Council in relation to Housing. Members had received a copy of a letter which he handed to An Taoiseach at that meeting.

The Lord Mayor then informed Members that he would soon re-establish Coiste Gaeilge in light of 2018 being Bliain na Gaeilge. He also mentioned that work on the Parenting room in City Hall will commence in mid- January and that forms for Donation Statements and Ethics Returns had been circulated to Members and hard copy was available from staff of the Chief Executive’s Office. He also referred member to arrangements circulated to them regarding Senior Counsel opinion on the Sutton to City Centre Part 8 Process.  Observation from members had to be with the Law Agent by 26th of January.

It was moved by Councillor R McAdam and seconded by Councillor V Jackson “That Dublin City Council approves the Dublin Chief Executive answering the questions lodged”. The motion having been put and carried, written answers to the 104 questions lodged for the City Council meeting were issued. The Questions and Answers are set out in Appendix A attached.

It was moved by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor V Jackson “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of this letter”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor V Jackson “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of this letter”. The motion was put and carried.

The minutes of the Meetings of the City Council held on the 4th December and the 13th December 2017, having been printed, certified by the Meetings Administrator, circulated to the Members and taken as read, were signed by the Lord Mayor with the following addition. Councillor Damian O’Farrell requested that an undertaking given by Mr Brendan Kenny, Deputy Chief Executive, at the meeting on the 4th December 2017 to bring a one year review of the Housing Strategy to a future meeting of the City Council in accordance with provisions of the Development Plan 2017 – 2022 be added to the Minutes. The City Council agreed to this and the minutes were adopted accordingly.

It was moved by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 6/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor C O’Moore and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council hereby approves all the works set out in Report No 355/2017 and agrees that they proceed subject to the requirements of various City Council Departments as set out in the report”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor J Lyons and seconded by Councillor E Ryan “That Councillor Hazel De Nortuin be appointed as a member to the Planning & Property Development Strategic Policy Committee” The motion was put and carried.

The City Council agreed that a nomination for this vacancy be sought from the North West Area Committee and submitted for ratification by the City Council in due course.

It was moved by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor D Flanagan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 18/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Doolan and seconded by Councillor V Jackson “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 23/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor C Burke “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 10/2018 and hereby approves the Audit Committee Charter and adopts the Work Programme 2018 as set out therein ”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor G Kelly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 4/2018 and hereby approves the Arts Funding for 2018 as set out therein with the exception of a grant of €3,000, Reference No 2018/014”. The motion was put and carried. The Chief Executive will revert to the Council on this matter.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 24/2018 and hereby approves the Dublin City Council Strategic Policy Committees Scheme 2014 – 2019 as set out therein”. The motion was put and carried. Councillor R Moynihan requested that her opposition to this motion be recorded.

It was then proposed by Councillor D Lacey and seconded by Councillor B Carr “That Councillor Tom Brabazon be appointed as a member to fill one of the newly created vacancies on the Transportation Strategic Policy Committee” The motion was put and carried.

It was further proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor C Ni Dhalaigh  “That Councillor Ruairi McGinley be appointed as a member to fill one of the newly created vacancies on the Transportation Strategic Policy Committee” The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Doolan and seconded by Councillor C Carney Boud “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 16/2018 and hereby approves the Annual Service Delivery Plan 2018 as set out therein”. The motion was put and carried. Following discussion on various aspects of the plan with particular reference to the staff required to deliver the plan, the Chief Executive undertook to bring a report on the staffing issue to a future meeting of the City Council.

It was moved by Councillor N O Muiri and seconded by Councillor D Flanagan  “That We, the Lord Mayor and Members of Dublin City Council, being the Roads Authority for the City of Dublin and being of the opinion that the Public Right of Way over laneway at 34-44 Maryfield Crescent & 76-84 Ardlea Road, Artane, Dublin 5, as shown on the attached Drawing No R.M. 36814, is no longer required for public use, extinguish the public right of way in accordance with Section 73 of the Roads Act 1993” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor T Brabazon “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 12/2018 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 2/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 5/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 20/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 13/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 21/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 7/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 15/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 19/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 9/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 22/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 11/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 8/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor D Flanagan and seconded by Councillor C O’Moore “That Dublin City Council hereby approves Report No 14/2018”. The motion was put and carried.

a)     Dublin City Council is deeply concerned at the reappointment of Conor Skehan as Chair of the Housing Agency. We believe his recent comments on homelessness & the downplaying of the housing crisis make him wholly unsuitable for the job and are in direct conflict with the reality being faced by Dublin City Council.We call on An Ardmhéara, as a matter of urgency, to write to Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to immediately appointment a new chair of the Housing Agency.

Submitted by Councillors D Doolan, N Reilly, E Moran, J Boylan, G. Kelly, L O’Toole, C. O’Moore,  and R. McHugh. The motion was put and carried.

b)     In light of An Bord Pleanála’s decision to cancel the public hearing on Dublin City Council’s application/plans for the College Street Plaza (due to errors in newspaper notices published by DCC on the instructions of An Bord Pleanála), the members of this Council request the Chief Executive to refrain from implementing any additional traffic management arrangements in College Green until the Bord Pleanála hearing has been rescheduled, completed and its report is issued. This is being requested by the members to ensure that DCC cannot be accused of pre-empting a decision or overriding the authority and/or the independence of An Bord Pleanála in its deliberations on the application.

Submitted by Councillors N. Ring and T.Brabazon. Councillor Tom Brabazon later withdrew his name from this motion. The motion was put and defeated.

c)     In the light of An Bord Pleanála's decision to defer the Oral Hearing for the College Green Plaza this Council calls on the Chief Executive and his staff to manage city centre traffic in the interim in a manner that safely supports the transport needs of residents, workers, retailers and visitors to the city in a sustainable manner.

Submitted by Councillor C. Cuffe. The motion was put and carried.

d)     Recognizing the failure of the former Minister for Housing Simon Coveney’s objective of moving all homeless families out of temporary hotel accommodation by July 1st  2017 with some 670 people still living in such accommodation in Dublin alone as of November 2017; acknowledging also the inadequacy of the proposed alternative - namely the institutional “family hub” accommodation - which many homeless individuals, couples and families are fearful of and reluctant to move into; and conscious of the imminent eviction of 14 homeless families from The Gresham Hotel in Dublin City centre, this city council calls on management to ensure that these homeless families avoid being made homeless for a second time and are offered appropriate long-term Dublin City Council accommodation as a matter of urgency.

Submitted by Councillors J. Lyons and H. De Nortúin. The motion was put and carried.