Headed Items
CONFIRMATION AND RE-AFFIRMATION OF MINUTES
a) - Minutes of the Annual Meeting 29th June 2018
b) - Minutes of Meeting 9th July 2018
REPORTS FROM AREA COMMITTEES
(No Reports)
STANDING COMMITTEES ORGANISATION PROCEDURE & FINANCE
(No Reports)
STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEES
(No Reports)
REPORTS REQUESTED BY AREA COMMITTEES
(No Reports)
Questions
To ask the Chief Executive for an update on the pilot program undertaken by the Council to trial a Green flag for parks.
To ask the Chief Executive for a detailed update on the carrying-out of further studies or audits (e.g. cumulative traffic studies) which were committed to in the South Dublin Development Plan 2016-2022 ?
In view of the fact that South Dublin County Council will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding (1994) in 2019, will the Chief Executive indicate if there are any plans to mark the occasion and if so, will he inform this Council.
Could details be supplied of the Ramp Refurbishment Programme for each LEA?
To ask the Chief Executive to outline number of Rebuilding Ireland home loan applications received to date? How many have been approved? How many have been refused?
To ask the Chief Executive what funding options will be in place to assist residents/community groups in putting on Halloween events to engage with children and young people?
To ask the Chief Executive whether the dog warden and litter wardens can patrol dog fouling hotpots (some parks and estates) together in order to deter dog owners from letting dogs stray and hand out fines if applicable?
To ask the Chief Executive what the usual time frame is for stump removal following the removal of problematic trees?
Can the Chief Executive confirm whether complaints from residents regarding insect infestations and other problems at Council owned dwellings and family hubs have been dealt with?
To ask the Chief Executive to outline how many families/individuals in emergency accommodation in South Dublin were forced out or left without adequate accommodation during the visit of the Pope?
To ask the Chief Executive to outline SDCC policy in relation to homeless families in hubs who are unable to secure accommodation within 18 months time, and if they are requested to leave the hub before the end of the 18th month?
To ask the Chief Executive if the contract with Ashton Dog Pound was renewed in August given the concerns expressed by elected members and members of the public, what is the current status and duration of any contract, and to make a statement on the matter.
To ask the Chief Executive for an update on all public housing projects in the County, and to make a statement on the matter.
Can the Council confirm whether representations were made to purchase these properties at St Maelruain's Park, Tallaght under the Capital Acquisitions Scheme? Will the Council consider purchasing them if they are still available?
The motion below was passed at the May OP&F. Can the Chief Executive update as to whether representations were sent to the Minister and whether any response has been received?
To ask the Chief Executive to outline the options available to this Council under the URDF (Urban Regeneration and Development Fund) on which the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government recently briefed all LA Chief Executives and if he would make a comment on the matter.
To ask the Chief Executive if there is any possible way that this Council can make a bid for the Development of Social Housing in current and future Special Development Zones under the recently announced URDF (Urban Regeneration and Development Fund) given that Special Development Zones are specifically referred to in the Scheme and if any such bids have been submitted or are in the process of being submitted by this Council.
To ask the Chief Executive to update the Council on actions being taken to meet targets set by Government in respect of Climate Change; will he outline his views in respect of this serious matter and will he make a statement.
To ask the Chief Executive if he appreciates the number of enquiries being received by Councillors and indeed directly to the Council in respect of Trees throughout the County; will he understand that there is concern in many of our communities that more urgent action is required in respect of many of the calls rather than referring the matter to the Maintenance Programme which prevents immediate attention, will he give assurances and make a statement.
To ask the Chief Executive if he will present a report to the Council detailing actions being taken in respect of the Housing and Homeless crisis in our County; will he update members on strategies being followed in respect of the crisis and make a statement covering both issues.
To ask the Chief Executive to confirm his commitment to deal with the Litter/Graffiti issue which is of concern to our communities in our County; will he detail actions being taken and confirm that additional resources will be provided at Budget time to continue efforts to eliminate the problem.
To ask the Chief Executive to update members of plans in place to deal with the annual challenges presented by the Bonfire Season at Halloween; will he understand the concern of communities in respect of damage caused to our Open Spaces and in that regard confirm the annual cost of dealing with these matters; will he give assurances and make a statement.
To ask the Chief Executive support is offered by South Dublin County Council to Irish emigrants who were forced by the economic crash to leave their country but are now unable to return due to the housing crisis.
To also ask if SDCC has engaged with or has plans to engage with Safe Home Ireland, an organisation that offers support to emigrants wishing to return home.
To ask for a report into who is responsible for maintenance and upkeep of grass verges outside houses and at side of houses? Who is responsible if anyone trips or falls on unmaintained verges? Who enforces the maintenance of grass verges?
To ask for a report into horses that have been seized by SDCC from between January to August and cost of same? How many had to be put down? How many where re-housed or claimed?
Also to add comment on the working Regional Horse Forum set up by SDCC and efforts been made to tackle abandoned horses.
To ask the Chief Executive for a report into Scramblers and Quads within SDCC. How many warning letters have been sent? What efforts are being made by SDCC to tackle this antisocial behaviour?
Also to comment on the workings/agenda of the Regional Scrambler and Quad forum set up by SDCC.
To ask the Chief Executive what steps SDCC has taken towards the elimination of disposable take-away coffee cups within Council premises and the county as a whole.
To ask the Chief Executive for a report on the Council’s plans for the removal of bonfire materials in the lead up to Halloween and details of any plans to highlight the dangers on social media. To also include in the report the costs incurred in dealing with bonfires and the aftermath for the last 4 years.
To ask the Chief Executive for a report on the development of a Vacant Home Strategy by South Dublin County Council as set out in Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. This report should include a statement and relevant statistics on the following objectives set out in the Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness
- 1: Complete a register of vacant units across the country,
- 2: Identify the number, location and reasons for longer term vacancies (i.e. over 6 months) in high demand areas
- 3: Set out a range of actions to bring vacant units back into use
To ask the Chief Executive for a report on homelessness within SDCC. This report should include a quarterly breakdown from Jan 2017 to date on the number of homeless males, females, couples, families, under 18s and over 65s and what size property they are eligible for?
Headed Items
DECLARATION OF ROADS TO BE MADE PUBLIC ROADS
(No Reports)
PROPOSED DISPOSAL OF PROPERTIES/SITES
a) - Proposed disposal of fee simple in 583 Woodview Cottages, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
b) - Proposed disposal of portion of laneway to rear 250 Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, Dublin 24
H7 (a) - Proposed disposal of fee simple in 583 Woodview Cottages, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
H-I 7 (b) Proposed disposal of portion of laneway to rear 250 Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, D. 24
MANAGERS REPORT
LOCAL PROPERTY TAX VARIATION
a) - To consider LPT Variation
b) - To consider outline Budget Strategy
c) - Fin 04 2018 Provisional 2019 LPT Allocations
2017 AUDIT REPORT
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
SECTION 183 KILCARBERY GRANGE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
PART 8S - HOUSING
a) St. Catherine’s - Tallaght
b) Homeville - Knocklyon
APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE CAPITAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME FROM TUATH HOUSING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF 4 DWELLINGS AT 24-27 COLLINSTOWN GROVE, CLONDALKIN IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 6 OF THE HOUSING (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT, 1992
APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE CAPITAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME FROM CIRCLE VHA IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 6 OF THE HOUSING (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT, 1992 FOR THE PURCHASE OF 2 UNITS LOCATED ACROSS TALLAGHT AND CLONDALKIN ELECTORAL AREAS
PART 8 AMENDMENTS TO GRANGE ROAD
URBAN REGENERATION FUND SUBMISSIONS
Correspondence
Ministerial
Letter dated 30th July 2018 from the Minister of Justice & Equality regarding online bullying.
Ministerial
Correspondence dated 30th July from the Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment regarding local authority waste collection.
Ministerial
Correspondence dated July 31st from the Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment regarding the introduction of green bin charges.
Ministerial
Letter dated 10th August 2018 from the Minister of Transport, Tourism & Sport regarding the Sports Capital Programme.
Ministerial
Letter dated 22nd August from the Minister of State for Mental Health & Older People regarding online bullying.
Ministerial
Letter dated 28th August 2018 from the Minister of State with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration regarding the funding of intercultural centres within South Dublin.
Departmental
Correspondence from the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government dated 22nd August regarding the guidelines for Planning Authorities in relation to Urban Development & Building Height
Letter dated 23rd July 2018 from Kildare County Council regarding the interpretation of the current Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) by the insurance industry
Letter dated 27th July 2018 from Limerick City & County Council regarding a liveable wage for employees who hold a recognised degree.
Motions
Mayors Business
Today is World Suicide Day. To mark this occasion this Council agrees to stand for a minutes silence for all the victims of suicide in this County and also acknowledges the tireless work put in by community based organisations that assist people with suicidal ideation, their families and the wider community.
Mayors Business
This Council welcomes the decision of the Department of Housing and Dublin City Council to shift the funding model for the St Michael’s estate housing development from a private led to a fully publicly led model through loans from the European Investment Bank. This will ensure that the development of that site will be better placed to meet the social and affordable housing needs of the local community. We call on the Chief Executive to explore the use of this funding model for similar projects in South Dublin including on The Grange/Kilcarberry site in Clondalkin.
That this Council promotes the potential of home sharing initiatives such as thehomeshare.ie which is a social enterprise based in this country.
Given the current Housing Crisis which is most severe in the Dublin Region, the elected members direct that the Chief Executive formally write to the Minister for Housing with a proposition for a Pilot Housing Scheme(s) involving appropriate support from the Minister that would enable SDCC, alone or in collaboration with one or more Recognised Housing Agencies, to acquire residential land, in one or a number of plots, either by land swop or through purchase, so as to build 750 to 1000 Social and Affordable Housing units, as a matter of urgency, for persons on the current SDCC Housing list.
That this Council calls on the Minister for Justice to change the laws around online bullying to make it an offense to bully any person online and call it Cocos Law.
The 1997 act does not go far enough.
We are losing too many people to suicide from online bullying.
Section 5 of the 1997 Act provides as follows:
“5(1) A person who, without lawful excuse, makes to another a threat, by any means intending the other to believe it will be carried out, to kill or cause serious harm to that other or a third person shall be guilty of an offence.”
Force does not actually have to be used; merely causing an apprehension of force is sufficient for assault under the law. The apprehension must be on reasonable grounds (i.e. the victim must reasonably believe that the threat is real and imminent) so if texts, emails, tweets etc. were to contain threats of physical violence such as “I hate you. You are going to die. I will kill you” and the recipient has reason to believe the threat is real and that death or injury will occur imminently then the person issuing the threat has committed an offence.
That this Council write to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, under whose remit the Referendum Commission lies, and ask him to propose legislation to empower the Referendum Commission to ensure and enforce that only factual information is presented by either side in upcoming referendum, thus cutting down on the politics of fear, uncertainty and doubt perpetuated by some, as seen in the Referendum to repeal the 8th amendment.
That South Dublin County Council, in the wake of Brexit, advocates for Ireland to become a full member of the Schengen Agreement.
That this council calls on management to include in strategies going forward, new imagery for use in signage for prevention of dog fouling. Current signs are proving ineffective. Please see imagery attached from dogstrust.ie which could be used as a template around the county going forward.
That this council recommend that all people on the Council list receive Homeless HAP.
Due to the nature of the housing crisis it is not possible to find a house unless you have Homeless HAP.
And a letter to Minster asking for this to be approved.
With house prices and rents in the private sector in South Dublin spiralling out of control, this Council extends the income threshold for eligibility for a council home, Increasing the €35,000 threshold for single people to €45,000 and the €42,000 for couples to €60.000.
That this Council calls on the Chief Executive to remove the requirement “All applicants are required to include with their grant application, proof that they are compliant with the local property tax.” From the conditions of applications on the following grant schemes.
- Housing Aid for Older People Scheme
- Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a disability.
- Mobility Aids Housing Grant Scheme
Following on from the successful submissions made in the recent Participatory Budget can this Council ensure as much as possible that the Community Orchard Project in Clondalkin and any planting of apple trees in the County be sourced from our ancient Irish species as a priority.
That this Council supports the principle of a directly-elected Mayor for all of Dublin as part of the wider democratisation of the city and county; and that we call on the Government to initiate, as soon as possible, a plebiscite of the people of Dublin to ascertain their support for such a proposal.
That this Council recognizes the work of Local Policing Forums in serving our Communities and seeks to establish such policing forums across all remaining Area Committees in our County
To call on the Chief Executive to explore, develop and provide an app suitable for Apple or Android devices, which illustrates and maps where Accessible Parking Bays in public spaces are available within our county.
That this Council supports An Gorta Mór petition to the Irish Government For a permanent standalone An Gorta Mór exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks, appreciating that Irishmen And Irishwomen and the Irish Family Overseas are signing this Petition To right this National Scandal and will the Chief Executive bring this motion to the attention of our Government.
That this council, noting the potential impact of the proposed Bus Connects Project and the timing of the public consultation period, calls on the Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport to instruct the National Transport Authority to extend the closing date for submissions on the proposal by a minimum of four weeks in order to give the public an opportunity to fully participate in the process.
That this Council send notice to Bus Connects, NTA requesting that the deadline for submissions be extended beyond the current date of September 28th, 2018.
This Council is deeply concerned with the imminent threat of closure of up to 390 Post Offices throughout the country and the threat to the long-term future of the remaining 690 Post Offices. This Council calls for the immediate suspension of the Post Office closures and that the Government enacts the Dáil Motion of the 11th November, 2016, passed by the Dáil - 158 Votes, which calls on the Government to:
“Implement a new community banking service operated by An Post to be made available in all post offices throughout the country; this post community bank could be based on either the New Zealand Kiwibank model or the German Sparkassen model, both of which have been found to be valid models;”
The results of this Council motion to be promptly conveyed to the Minister for Communications, Climate action and Environment and Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, Chair of Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
The elected members of this council, in light of the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy’s statement that money is available for the council building on public land, request that the Chief Executive immediately makes plans for large sites (minimum 100 units) and make applications to the Department to draw down this money. This would involve using public land to build a combination of local authority housing and affordable housing for those not able to afford a house on the private market.
That this Council supports the families of the Stardust victims in their calls for a new inquiry into the tragedy and agrees to write to the Attorney General asking him to grant a fresh inquest as soon as possible.
That this Council declares South Dublin County a breastfeeding friendly county and takes action to promote breastfeeding-friendly policies in all Council buildings and in the county in general.
This Council does not support statements regarding the "gaming of the system" or "years of bad behaviour" by senior housing officials in the Dublin Regional Housing Executive.
South Dublin County Council has changed its policy regarding the allocation of housing to those currently accessing homeless services through hubs, hotels or other means.
This Council regards hubs and hotels as a short term emergency measure and recognises the work and studies carried out by Focus Ireland and others regarding the negative impact of homelessness, hubs and hotels on the development and mental health of children and adults.
It is our position that HAP does not offer a secure, quality accommodation, or a value for money solution for homelessness.
This Council calls for a defined percentage of all available homes for allocation to be reserved for families currently in long term emergency accommodation in hubs, hotels and hostels based on their time in homelessness.
With over 300 homeless families in the County and no significant inroads into the housing lists the requirement for significant public housing programmes and the utilisation of publicly owned land banks should be a key task of this council.
This council opposes the privatisation of public land or homes.
This Council also calls on management to use available powers to develop the proposed 892 homes on the lands at Kilcarbery/The Grange as public and affordable housing. 60% of these homes should be reserved for those on the social housing list as traditional social housing.
We propose that the remaining 40% be open to those not on housing lists but on an occupancy only basis and developed on an affordable model financed through the Housing Finance Agency with the Council maintaining a first right of refusal option on the future sale of any of these properties.
It is estimated that the cost of building 357 affordable homes is €70.8 million, (1 bed by 60 units, 2 bed by 80, 3 bed by 200, 4 bed by 17). On the basis of a 10% deposit and 25 year mortgages at an interest rate of 2%, monthly repayments would range from €572 for a one bedroom to €954 for a four bedroom house.
The housing crisis can be tackled but only by breaking with the logic of for profit development and by devoting significant resources to delivering public housing. In doing so the trend of the declining share of public housing would be halted and could begin to be substantially reversed.