Agenda item

Minutes:

Copy of presentation was provided in advance of the meeting in the Mod Gov pack.

 

Anthony Flynn opened by informing Members that The National Recovery and Resilience Plan originates from the EU’s Recovery & Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF will make €672.5bn in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments undertaken by Member States. Ireland is expected to receive €853m in grants under the RRF in 2021 and 2022 with further grants allocated in 2023. In order to access funding, Ireland must develop a National Recovery Resilience Plan (NRRP) for approval by the EU. The Department of An Taoiseach launched the public consultation process on the 2nd February 2021 and the deadline for receipt of submissions was the 22nd February 2021, so turnaround was very tight. A submission was made by DCC by the deadline. Dublin City Council’s submission to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan identifies challenges and opportunities to reimagine Dublin City and sets out how the City can be regenerated through investment, city greening and improved connectivity. Proposals in DCC’s submission cover areas of energy efficiency, digital transformation, greening and biodiversity, flood defences and resilience, public realm and wellbeing with proposed projects across a number of Departments of the Council. The final submission contained 7 sections within a 37 page document highlighting 6 proposal areas (Energy Efficiency, Digital Transformation, Greening & Biodiversity, Flood Defences & Resilience, Public Realm and Wellbeing) including 13 potential projects to the value of €464.2M. The Council has written to the Dept of an Taoiseach and DPER in advance of 30th April deadline to seek a meeting to further discuss the Council’s submission in advance  of the National deadline of submission to the EU Commission by 30th April.

 

Headings presented and elaborated on included:

Ø    DCC Submission to NRRP – Development

Ø    DCC Submission to NRRP – Context

Ø    DCC Submission to NRRP – 35 Proposals Across the Organisation

Ø    DCC Submission to NRRP – Evaluation Process: Prioritisation of Projects

Ø    DCC Submission to NRRP – Evaluation Process: Project Matrix

Ø   DCC Submission to NRRP – Final Submission Content

o     7 sections

o     37 page document

o     13 potential projects to value of €464.2m

Ø    NRRP – 2021  Timeframe

30/04/21 – submitted to EU Commission

May-June 2021 – EU Commission assessment

July 2021 – EU Council assessment

August 2021 – Ireland’s NRRP published

 

Comments, Feedback & Questions:

 

The Chair thanked the presenter, commended the volume of work that had to be done in order to make submission by the deadline, and opened the floor for discussion. Cllr. MacDonncha thanked the Presenter and asked for clarification on €464.2m grants figure, timelines and availability of additional funding. Cllr. Deacy thanked the Presenter and asked if there would be/and had been consultation and conversation at local level with Local Area Managers / Local Area representatives.

Cllr. Freehill put questions to the presenter on the establishment of the EU Programmes Office, who will man it, and when will it be established, who is dealing with BIDS and preparatory work in the interim period, and the issue of potential partnerships with Belfast was also raised, she also queried the Urbact & Interreg Funding Programmes. Cllr. Ring commented on the lack of time given to draft the submission, saying it was a disgrace and commended DCC on preparing and submitting the submission in such a short timeframe.  He questioned if the €464.2m were all grant based or if any of it is loan based and questioned if all of what DCC have proposed in their submission will be included in the Ireland’s NRRP for approval by the EU.  The issue of the government providing grants to the City Centre Recovery Task Force was also discussed. Evanne Kilmurray commended the work carried out by DCC and asked if there were synergies with other SPC’s in drafting DCC’s submission to the NRRP.  The question of the status of 5G connectivity was also raised. Cllr. Cooney commended DCC and commented on the diversity of projects in the submissions and asked when we will know the outcome of DCC’s submission. Odran Reid put the question of how quickly can these projects commence if funding is made available. Aidan Sweeney commended DCC and commented on the slowness of Ireland to submit and asked are the same projects included in the NDP as in DCC’s submission to the NRRP. 

 

Response:

 

The presenter advised that the sum of funding of €464.2m was made up of 13 potential projects that had been prioritised from DCC’s Capital Programme and which fitted into the conditions of the Recovery & Resilience Programme.  This is upfront funding made available by the EU to kick start the economy and has to be advanced within the next 2 years. He advised that consultation had taken place with the Areas on priority projects and this can be an ongoing consultation process. The presenter confirmed that the organisation The Wheel has, since July 2020, been available to give support and advice to local government EU funding applications. The presenter advised that it was envisaged that the EU Programmes Office would be established by August/September 2021 and an operational steering committee were working on its establishment. Regarding URBACT Funding Programme, the presenter advised that DCC were not eligible, as they availed of previously. The current call is for those who have not previously availed. He confirmed that other SPC’s were consulted regarding DCC’s submission to the NRRP and was unable to provide an update on 5G but advised that Smart Dublin would be able to and could provide further information on the matter. The presenter confirmed that DCC’s preference is that the €464.2m is by way of grants. He advised that DCC had been advised by the Dept of an Taoiseach that the National plan would be published on their website following engagement with the EU Commission, expected to be by August 2021, and that DCC had been prepping in the background for some time to make the submission by the February deadline. He confirmed that some projects were the same that were included in the NDP and the NRRP submission and DCC are keen to keep Dublin and the City Centre as their primary focus for the next 2 to 3 years.  He confirmed that if funding is provided, the projects listed in DCC’s submission are ready to go and can be commenced quickly.

 

 

Supporting documents: