Agenda and minutes

_{Minutes of the previous meeting, which took place on 20th April 2021, were agreed by Cllr. O’Driscoll and seconded by Cllr. Batten.}

_{Cllr. MacDonncha referred to minutes of meeting held 20/04/21 under Item 7 regarding the launch of the Dublin/Belfast Economic Corridor in March 2021 and lack of Councillor participation or invitation to speak at it.  It was agreed by the Chair at the time that an official complaint by the Councillors to this effect would be made to Owen Keegan, Chief Executive, Dublin City Council.  Cllr. MacDonncha asked if the letter had issued and if a response had been received from the Chief Executive.  Mary MacSweeney to follow up on matter and advise outcome to Members by email.}

_{The Chair advised that any further discussions on Dublin/Belfast Economic Corridor would be included under A.O.B of this meeting.}

_{Copy of Motions were provided in advance of the meeting in ModGov pack.}

_{Dublin City to host the Local Division of the Unified Patent Court in Dublin} 

_{Aidan Sweeney, IBEC, Sectoral Member (Business Representative)}

_{Aidan Sweeney submitted an additional report to support his motion which was uploaded to ModGov.}

_{Aidan Sweeney spoke on proposed Motion of Notice for designated time allowance, this was followed by debate. Motion supported by Cllr. MacDonncha, Cllr. Freehill, Odran Reid, Natalie McGuinness, Cllr. Batten, Evanne Kilmurray, Cllr. O’Connor (Chair).}

_{Cllr. Cooney abstained.}

_{Members voted to agree on Motion but it is outside the remit of Dublin City Council.} 

_{·         It was agreed that as the motion was endorsed, a letter should issue from the SPC to Government outlining its content and time constraints as outlined in Motion should be noted.}  

_{·         Support to also be sought from Lord Mayor and possibility of motion to be sent to Media Relations – Mary MacSweeney to follow up on this.}

_{Creation of a stakeholder forum to resolve the privatisation threat to the Local Employment Services & Job Clubs within our four Dublin Local Development Companies}

_{Cllr. Sophie Nicoullaud, Dublin City Council}

_{Cllr. Nicoullaud submitted an additional report to support her motion which was uploaded to ModGov.}

_{Cllr. Nicoullaud spoke on proposed Motion of Notice for designated time allowance, this was followed by debate. Motion supported by Cllr. Freehill, Evanne Kilmurray, Odran Reid, Cllr. Deacy, Cllr. Cooney, Cllr. MacDonncha, Cllr. O’Connor (Chair).}

_{Members voted to agree on Motion but it is outside the remit of Dublin City Council. The Chair advised that it would not be appropriate for Dublin City Council to oppose a process that is an integral part of current Government policy and consistent with EU Regulations on Public Procurement.  The matter was raised at the last LCDC meeting as an information item. No action was agreed. It was agreed that this SPC would:}

_{·         Write to LCDC requesting the motion to be tabled on their agenda (note next meeting of the LCDC is 29/9);}

_{·         Issue letter from SPC to the Department of Social Protection outlining its content;}

_{·         Explore possibility of Lord Mayor endorsing this Motion and issuing letter to Government outlining its contents;}

_{·         Issue letter to Chief Executive, DCC, outlining its contents.}

_{·         Explore possibility of issuing Press Release through Media Relations from this SPC supporting the Motion.}

_{Copy of presentation was provided in advance of the meeting in the ModGov pack}

_{Greg Swift presented to Members. The Chair thanked the presenter and opened the floor for Questions and Answers.}

_{Cllr. Cooney thanked the Presenter and requested a further breakdown in the Plan on lean businesses and high tech/low tech ratio.}

_{Cllr. MacDonncha thanked the presenter and made the comment that as an SPC more input is required from the SPC into the Plans at an early stage, and suggested that it would be more appropriate to see the Plan at the early stages of development.  Both Cllr. MacDonncha and Cllr. Freehill spoke about the importance of apprenticeships.  Cllr. MacDonncha requested material on Apprenticeship Summit which the Presenter provided in chat function during meeting.}

_{www.localenterprise.ie/dublincity/documents/apprenticeship-summit-outcomes-report.pdf}

_{Aidan Sweeney thanked the LEO team and commented on how LEO have dealt with businesses navigating them through the very difficult times of the last 18 months.  He made comments on digitalisation, changed interaction with businesses, sustainability agenda and circular economy, how to possibly support LEO’s better and sustaining the experience economy enterprise base e.g.  the arts/events/culture etc.} 

_{Evanne Kilmurray thanked the presenter and gave her opinion that Dublin City was the best LEO in the country.  ICE work with the LEO on a wide range of platforms and she commended the LEO team on the huge volume of work carried out across the Section.}

_{Cllr. Freehill commented on the importance of apprenticeships and suggested that research should be done on creating incentives for companies to provide apprenticeships.}

_{The Presenter replied as follows:}

_{In relation to breakdown, he referred to The Dublin Food Chain, 2000 members, 8 events ran this year, and markets are included in that network. 10% of businesses LEO service are food and approx. 10% are craft/creative industry sector.  LEO are currently building a craft and business programme to be run in conjunction with the Craft Design Council.  50% of businesses are tech, Dublin is very much tech led.}

_{Whilst the LEDP is a nationwide standardised Plan across all LEO’s, there would be scope for Councillors feedback and policies to be taken on board through the Economic Development side of the house. He also spoke about the Apprenticeship Summit and the Dublin Skills Forum.}

_{The presenter referred to the Enterprise Space Report, the showcasing of Guinness Enterprise Centre shortly and a new product which will be coming next year on sustainability and digitalisation.}

_{Copy of presentation was provided in advance of the meeting in the ModGov pack.}

_{Anthony Flynn presented to Members on the progress of the EU Programme Participation Strategy and establishment of the EU Programme Support Office. The Chair thanked the Presenter and opened the floor to Questions and Answers.}

_{Cllr. Freehill expressed concern at lack of progress on the establishment of the Office and recruitment of suitably qualified candidate to Head this new Office; and queried the 15 leads quoted under European joint funding with Belfast, and the programmes currently being looked at from European funding point of view, including who are the partners DCC are negotiating with.  The appointment of two new graduates to the new office was welcomed.}

_{The Lord Mayor Cllr. Gilliland concurred with Cllr. Freehill’s comments in relation to recruitment for the EU Programme Support Office. She asked for clarity on the European Expert Framework and tender panel and asked how this new office will interact with DCC’s current International Affairs Office headed by Grainne Kelly.  The Lord Mayor asked what collaborative projects are planned for future.}

_{Cllr. Cooney thanked the Presenter and reiterated the comments made by Cllr Freehill and Lord Mayor. She expressed concerns about the business case and funding from the Department and voiced concerns about recruitment of suitable staff.}

_{The Presenter replied as follows:}

_{A significant amount of work has taken place in the background to ensure that the EU Programme Support Office will be fit for purpose and the presenter thought he had demonstrated this in a robust way in his presentation.}

_{The job description and business case are both very clear that expertise will be required in EU Affairs.  He thanked the hard work of Mary MacSweeney, Ciara O hAodha and Grainne Kelly and in particular he paid thanks to Ciara O hAodha who he informed the Members has been reassigned to Interim Head of the EU Office in the interim and commended her for her work and dedication thus far.  He advised that he could see no reason why the business case would be rejected by the Department, the business case was signed off by both the DCC’s Chief Executive and Head of Human Resources.  The procedures and policies in place for both existing and new posts have been established for some time.  He confirmed that no funding was being asked from the Department in relation to the establishment of this new Office, the City Council have set aside funds to facilitate the establishment and running of the new Office.  He explained the workings of the EU framework panel and it would be made up of an expert panel, similar to panels already in existence in Economic Development and LEO.  As and when necessary services are required, DCC can use this panel of experts to draw on. There is continuous interaction on an internal basis between the International Relations Office and other offices such as Smart Cities.  The EU Programme Participation Strategy 2021-2027 (page 11-14) of presentation outlined the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.}

_{Copy of presentation was provided in advance of the meeting in the ModGov pack.}

_{Mary MacSweeney presented to Members. The Chair thanked the Presenter and opened the floor to Questions and Answers.}

_{Lord Mayor, Alison Gilliland thanked the Presenter and queried how this policy would fit in with the Development Plan, is it an Economic & Enterprise Vision and if so, suggested that should be included in definition. She asked for a breakdown of the external stakeholders as mentioned in the presentation, do the stakeholders reach beyond businesses to environmental groups, Congress of Trade Unions and others.}

_{Aidan Sweeney concurred with the Lord Mayor and stressed importance of this Policy layering in with the Development Plan for the City, and emphasised the quality of life proposition.  He spoke about how we go about addressing challenges such as the evolution of retail and how we can adapt and the need to tie in the right indicators in line with the Metropolitan Strategic Plan.}

_{Odran Reid spoke about the need to link into the spatial plan and the need to look at the spatial development of where we are putting employment, how vacancy rates are appearing in suburban areas and the need to now look at niche areas for employment growth.}

_{The Presenter replied as follows:}

_{This Policy is running alongside the development of the City Development Plan and there is constant communication between this process and the development of the City Development Plan, both processes look to inform and support each other. The consultation with stakeholders for this Policy is a much shorter/sharper one and not nearly as wide ranging as that of the City Development Plan.}

_{In relation to physical space, it is hoped that the outcomes of this Policy will present new solutions and that by consulting with businesses and looking at different perspectives, we can draw on different expertise which can be used to feed into other mechanism for delivering change.}

_{With regard to areas of city and placing of employment, the experience of OCO and Eutopia will be drawn upon to look at new approaches in this regard.}

_{Copy of Management Reports were provided in advance of the meeting in ModGov pack.}

_{The Chair opened to floor for Questions and Answers.}

_{No questions/comments – noted as circulated.}

_{Smart Dublin and Smart Cities}

_{Jamie Cudden, Smart City Manager spoke on Dublin being shortlisted for the iCapital European Awards, winner to be announced by November 2021.}

_{The Chair thanked and wished the Presenter good luck with the shortlisting.}

Next SPC Meeting: 9^th November 2021 (3.30pm – 5.30pm)

Council Chamber, City Hall (In line with government guidelines operating at this time)

_{Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor}

_{Mary MacSweeney gave a verbal update as follows:}

_{·         Launch event held 24/3/21 with further meeting to establish governance of the Corridor.}

_{·         Advisory Group established made up of Elected Representatives from each of the 8 Local Authorities.}

_{·         Tender process commissioned in order to inform the work of the Steering Group and Advisory Group, tender process being led by Belfast City Council.}

_{·         Development of Work Plan of Advisory Group and Steering Group.} 

_{·         Tender published. Submissions received. Appointment should be made by end of September.}

_{·         Plan is to hold an informal meeting in person, border Councils have been asked to nominate a suitable location to facilitate that meeting.  No date set as of yet for first meeting of Advisory Group.}

_{The Chair thanked the presenter and opened the floor, where a robust discussion took place. As the time allocation had been reached, and no time extension had been requested, the Chair closed the meeting.} 

_{Next SPC Meeting:  9th November 2021 (3.30pm – 5.30pm)}

_{Council Chamber, City Hall (In line with government guidelines operating at this time)}

   _{Action items for Progression:}