Agenda item

Minutes:

Cllr. Daragh Moriarty questioned the content of the breviate from the South Central Area Committee meeting of the 20th January as it failed to include details of an emergency motion that was agreed by the Committee Members in relation to obtaining outside legal advice regarding the Player Wills Factory Building. The agreed emergency motion was as follows:

 

“This Area Committee, noting that –

 

· under section 54 of the Planning and Development Act 2002 the making of an addition to the record of protected structures is a reserved function of the elected council,

 

·  under section 132 of the Local Government Act 2001 as amended, it is the duty of the chief executive to advise and assist the elected council, and to carry into effect its lawful directions, in relation to the exercise and performance of reserved functions,

 

·  section 55 of the Planning and Development Act sets out procedures to be followed by a planning authority which proposes, at any time other than in the course of making its development plan, to make an addition to its record of protected structures,

 

·  in November 2018 Dublin South Central Area Committee resolved that the Player Wills Factory Building be added to the City Council’s record of protected structures,

 

·  in November 2020 this Council passed a motion seeking that councillors be urgently updated on the progress of adding the Player Wills Factory Building to the record of protected structures, and immediately mandating the Executive to begin the process of adding the building to the record,

 

·  the Law Agent has subsequently furnished a legal opinion to the effect that initiating procedures in relation to a proposal to add a building to the record of protected structures is an executive and not a reserved function,

 

directs the Chief Executive, pursuant to section 132 (2) (a) of the 2001 Local Government Act, as amended by section 47 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, to obtain the opinion of senior counsel as to –

 

1. the duties if any of the Chief Executive arising from the passing of the resolutions by the Dublin South Central Area Committee in November 2018 and by this Council in November 2020.

 

2.  whether the reserved function of the elected council under section 55 of the Act of 2000 in relation to adding buildings to the record of protected structures other than in the course of making the development plan is confined exclusively to considering only such proposals as may be formulated and progressed by the Chief Executive under section 54 of that Act in the performance of his executive functions, and

 

3.  such other matters related to these questions as appear to senior counsel to be relevant.

 

The Assistant Chief Executive, Richard Shakespeare acknowledged that the breviate was incomplete and should have contained details of the motion as agreed by the Members. However, he informed Members that the decision to look for of outside legal opinion was a Reserved Function of the full Council and therefore the Area Committee did not have the authority to make that request.

 

The Chief Executive, Owen Keegan confirmed that he was happy for Members to seek outside legal opinion on this matter and suggested it be referred to the Protocol Committee to determine the process to be followed.

 

The Members agreed with the Chief Executives proposal and the matter was referred to the Protocol Committee.

 

It was proposed by Lord Mayor Hazel Chu and seconded by Deputy Lord Mayor Mary

Callaghan that Dublin City Council notes the contents of Report 44/2021. The motion

was put and carried.

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