Agenda and minutes

The Lord Mayor opened the meeting by congratulating residents of Stoneybatter on their recent win in the Pride of Place competition and also Santry Community Centre on its success in the same competition. Ms Oonagh Casey of the Chief Executive’s Office then briefed Members on the changed evacuation procedures that will apply to the Chamber and the upper floors of City Hall for 3 weeks in January 2017 while painting of the east stairwell is in progress. She requested that Members, staff and guests all proceed to exit by the west stairway in the event of an emergency occurring. She also requested that Members alert staff if any of their guests in the public gallery during meetings would need extra assistance in the event of an evacuation.

The Lord Mayor then informed the Members that the annual IFA Live Animal Crib would be opening the next day, Tuesday 6th December and would remain open until Christmas Eve.  In addition there is a winter wonderland to walk people through to the Crib which will bring a little Christmas magic to Dawson Street.  He expressed particular thanks to the Chief Executive, to Ms Alison King of the Events Section and to Mr John Downey of the Planning & Property Development Department for their assistance in bringing this project to fruition.

The Lord Mayor then informed Members that was Jim Keogan’s last day in Dublin City Council and his last City Council meeting.  He thanked Jim for all his help, guidance and patience throughout my years as a Councillor and in particular the last six months as Lord Mayor. Many Members joined the Lord Mayor in paying tribute to Jim’s hard work and dedication to Dublin City and mentioned in particular his professional expertise which was particularly in evidence during the recent Development Plan process. Members, wishing him well in his retirement, asked that it be put on record their deep appreciation of Jim’s work as a public servant, saying that his commitment to the city was without question.

In response, Jim thanked the Members for their good wishes and said he had enjoyed his time with Dublin City Council. The Lord Mayor then thanked the Councillors and staff for their support during the first half of his term of office and wished everyone a Happy Christmas and a peaceful 2017.

It was moved by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor C Burke “That Dublin City Council approves the Dublin Chief Executive answering the questions lodged”. The motion having been put and carried, written answers to the 121 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 Mc Adam and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of this letter”. The motion was put and carried.

The minutes of the Meeting of the City Council held on the 7th November 2016 and the Budget Meeting held on the 14th November 2016, having been printed, certified by the Meetings Administrator, circulated to the Members and taken as read, were signed by the Lord Mayor. Councillor N O Muiri asked that the Budget Minutes be amended to include his question on how many projects were currently with the DoHPC&LG. The City Council agreed to this request and the Minutes will be amended accordingly.

It was proposed by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor C Cuffe “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 351/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor R Mc Ginley and seconded by Councillor N Reilly “That Dublin City notes Report No 344/2016 and adopts the Annual Financial Statement  2015 as outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor S McGrattan and seconded by Councillor J Boylan “That Councillor  A Connaghan be appointed as a member to represent Dublin City Council on the Finglas Youth Resource Centre” The motion was put and carried.

It was agreed by the City Council that as, no nomination was forthcoming to fill this vacancy, it would not be re-listed unless requested by a Group Leader who would be in a position to put forward a nomination.

It was proposed by Councillor S McGrattan and seconded by Councillor J Boylan “That Councillor C Carney Boud be appointed as a member to represent Dublin City Council on the Dublin North West Area Partnership” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 359/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor J Boylan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 360/2016”. The motion was put and carried. Members were informed that any questions they had arising from this report should ne emailed to Mr Brendan Kenny, Assistant Chief Executive, Housing Department.

It was proposed by Councillor R McAdam and seconded by Councillor D Flanagan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 350/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was moved by Councillor C Cuffe and seconded by Councillor C Burke “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 358/2016 and hereby resolves to make the Dublin City Council Special Speed Limit Byelaws 2016 as outlined in the report”.  The motion was put and carried. A proposal to defer consideration of this report had been proposed by Councillor D Lacey and seconded by Councillor D Costello but was defeated.

Seven amendments to the draft revised Standing Orders were proposed, seconded, voted on and agreed/defeated as follows:-

a)         Proposed by the Protocol Committee – Amend Standing Order No 8 by       replacing 9.15pm with 9pm – agreed

b)         Proposed by Councillor M O’Brien – Amend Standing Order No 34 – addition          of the following wording “In the event that the Lord Mayor determines that an emergency motion will not be put before the City Council for consideration,        the submitting councillor may have that determination overturned on the basis        of a proposal being put to the  City Council ‘That the motion be heard’     achieving a two-thirds majority” – defeated

c)         Proposed by Councillors E Ryan & P Dunne – Amend the text in paragraph 7         of Standing Order No 13 by replacing the word ‘three’ with ‘two’ – defeated

d)         Proposed by Councillors E Ryan & P Dunne – Amend the text in Standing   Order No 33 by removing the phrase ‘twenty (20) minutes’ and replacing it      with ‘not less than half an hour’ – agreed

e)         Proposed by PBPA – Amend Standing Order No 36 – Retain five minutes, erase the proposed three minutes – defeated

f)          Proposed by PBPA – Amend Standing Order No 60 – erase the proposed   ‘three days’ and replace with ‘five days’- agreed

g)         Proposed by PBPA – Amend Standing Order No 69 – erase the proposed   ‘three days’ and replace with ‘five days’ – withdrawn

It was proposed by Councillor P McAuliffe and seconded by Councillor N O Muiri “That Dublin City Council hereby adopts the revised Standing Orders as set out in Report No 363/2016 incorporating the agreed amendments numbered :  a), d), and  f) ” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor N O Muiri and seconded by Councillor D Flanagan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 340/2016”. The motion was put and carried. A letter received from the Environmental Protection Agency was circulated by Councillor N O Muiri. Following discussion, the Members requested that a letter be written to the Environmental Protection Agency to request that it reconsiders its decision not to attend the Environment SPC Special meeting on Thursday, 8th December 2016.

It was moved by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley  “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 over a stretch of roadway at Borris Court, Dublin 8, as shown on the attached Drawing No R.M. 36604, 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.

The City Council deferred consideration of this report to it’s January 2017 meeting, to allow for clarification of the entitlement/non-entitlement of property owners backing onto Belmont Court to have a vote in this plebiscite.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley  “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 339/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 352/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 353/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 354/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 355/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor R McGinley “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 356/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 357/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” An amendment to this report was put forward by Councillors O’Brien, Dunne, Lyons, MacVeigh, Ryan, A Keegan, De Nortuin and Perry as follows :

“To amend the report by means of not approving the sale of six apartments:

2 No to Gaughran Homes Ireland Ltd.

1 No to Woodview Trading Ltd.

3 No to Harley Holdings.

Furthermore these firms have their booking deposit returned and Dublin City Council resolves that units it owns shall not be sold to property or investment firms and where sales do take place they are to named individuals who intend living in said units” This amendment to the motion was put and defeated.

A second amendment put forward by Councillor A Gilliland was later withdrawn by her.

The original motion - “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 357/2016 and assents to the proposal outlined therein” was then put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 366/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 367/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 364/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 348/2016”. The motion was put and carried. The Lord Mayor allowed Councillor J Lyons to speak briefly to a motion he had submitted to the Arts, Culture & Recreation Strategic Policy Committee and which was agreed at that meeting of the SPC.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 347/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 365/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 342/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 346/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 362/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 343/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 345/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council adopts Report No 349/2016”. The motion was put and carried.

It was proposed by Councillor V Jackson and seconded by Councillor T Keegan “That Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report No 361/2016”. The motion was put and carried.