Agenda and minutes

Order: Minutes agreed.

It was acknowledged that it was the prerogative of the Lord Mayor to ask any Councillor to deputise on his/her behalf when they or the Deputy Lord Mayor were not available to attend an event.

If there was a particular event held in the Mansion House that a Councillor wanted further information on the Manager would arrange for that information to be provided to the Councillor.

Order: Receptions and Engagements noted.

Councillor Danny Byrne: “2024 Annual Suck Valley Way Training Conference - The Rise of Loneliness on The Emerald Isle: How Community Development & Planning may be the remedy.” 13^th & 14^th March 2024, Hannon’s Hotel, County Roscommon.

Councillor Danny Byrne: “2024 Annual Suck Valley Way Training Conference - The Rise of Loneliness on The Emerald Isle: How Community Development & Planning may be the remedy.” 13^th & 14^th March 2024, Hannon’s Hotel, County Roscommon.

Order: Report Noted.

Order: Attendance approved.

Order: It was agreed to defer this item to the May meeting and that a written report would be circulated as soon as it was available as well as accompanying the agenda for the next meeting.

The Manager confirmed that the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government were sponsoring two publications to mark the 125^th Anniversary of Council Elections. The first was a review of the mobile exhibition that was created to mark the 120^th Anniversary of Local Government and the other was a compendium of the 125 years of Local Elections.  The Manager confirmed that Deputy City Librarian, Brendan Teeling was happy to assist in any local event to mark the occasion.

Cllr. Lacey confirmed that he would be supportive of any local initiative later in the year following the election of a new Council.

Cllr. Flynn suggested an educational project on Local Government involving local schools would be an appropriate way to commemorate the anniversary. The Members were supportive of this idea.

Order: The Manager agreed to bring the Committee’s feedback and suggestion regarding the educational schools project to the attention of the Department for their consideration.

·         Global Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day on April 19th, 2024.

·         An Garda Siochana, “Go Purple Day for Domestic Violence” on 3^rd May, 2024

·         World Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day on 17^th May, 2024

·         World Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Day on 30^th May, 2024

Order: The following lighting requests for City Hall were agreed:

·         Global Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day on April 19th, 2024

·         World Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day on 17th May, 2024

Order: The Members were unhappy with the response from the Minister’s Office and requested that the Chair write to the St. Patrick’s Festival, the Minister and the President again, requesting their support for Councillor representation on the Board of St. Patrick’s Festival.

Order: The Members agreed the motion and referred it to the Standing Orders Sub-Committee for review and to make a recommendation for an amendment to Standing Orders.

The Manager confirmed that the Lord Mayor had agreed to host an evening in the Mansion House on 17^th May to honour the outgoing Council and to acknowledge the contributions of all Councillors but in particular those Councillors not running for re-election.

Order: The Members were supportive of this initiative and it was agreed that the Lord Mayor’s Office would issue a “save the date” request to all Councillors in advance of invitations being issued. 

The Manager informed Members that she had yet to receive official confirmation for the date of the Local Elections from the Department. However, based on the assumed date of the 7^th June the following timelines would apply:

·         Electoral Register Provided to Councillors and Candidates – 11^th April 2024

·         Nomination period for Local Election Candidates – 11^th May – 18^th May 2024

·         Closing date for registering to vote for Local Elections – 20^th May 2024

Following a query from Cllr. Flynn the Manager clarified that there were two categories of candidates at the Local Election - Political Party Candidates and Non-Party Candidates. There is no category of Independent Candidate in the Electoral Regulations. Only political groups registered with the Electoral Commission are afforded the status Political Party. The Manager agreed to forward the relevant regulations to Cllr. Flynn.

Following a query from Cllr. O’Driscoll the Manager confirmed that the Dublin City Returning Officer is responsible for Polling Stations and Places. The Manager agreed to investigate the possibility of including the Eircode of the Polling Station on the Polling Information Card with the City Returning Officer.

Cllr. O’Farrell raised the issue of the right of Elected Members to submit motions to Council for consideration without hindrance by the Executive as highlighted in the correspondence from AILG to Minister Kieran O’Donnell (see attached). Cllr. O’Farrell was supported by Cllr. Lacey, the City Council’s AILG delegate. Cllr. Lacey confirmed that he would request that the correspondence be circulated to all Councillors countrywide at the next AILG meeting

Order: It was agreed that the legislation and importance of standing orders and AILG induction training for new Councillors would be included in Dublin City Council’s own induction pack. It was also agreed that AILG correspondence would be included in the May City Council Agenda for noting.

Cllr. Feeney extended her thanks to Eileen Quinlivan and Dymphna Farrell for the presentation on the challenges the City Council were facing in attracting and retaining employees that was provided at the previous meeting.

Cllr. Feeney also suggested that Councillors be encouraged to attend in person the final meeting of the current City Council in May. She felt that this would be an appropriate way for Members to sign off on their term in office. This suggestion was supported by the Committee.

Order: It was agreed that the Manager would issue correspondence on behalf of the Protocol Committee encouraging Members to attend the May City Council meeting in person. 

Cllr. Flynn requested that efforts be made to understand the reasons behind why many female Councillors are leaving politics and what can be done to encourage their retention.

Order: The Manager agreed to raise the matter with the Department in the context of the Moorhead Report and also identified the Women’s Committee as a forum for the issue to be further explored.

Cllr. Lacey noted that due to the Local Elections there would be no Area Committee meetings in June.  He requested that Councillors be facilitated in submitting questions to their Area Committee despite the fact that there were no meetings. This suggestion was supported by the Committee.

Order: The Manager agreed to raise this matter with the Local Area Managers.   

Order: Agreed