Headed Items
CONFIRMATION AND RE-AFFIRMATION OF MINUTES
Minutes of Meeting of South Dublin County Council 8th October 2012
(circulated herewith)
REPORTS OF AREA COMMITTEES
a) Rathfarnham Area Committee - 9th October 2012
- Dealing with Planning & Development, Corporate Services & Libraries, Community, Housing, Parks, Environment, Roads & Water Services
(no report)
b) Clondalkin Area Committee -17th October 2012
- Dealing with Planning & Development, Corporate Services & Libraries (1 report - Request to Appeal on behalf of Alpha Gassama), Community, Housing, Parks, Environment, Roads & Water Services
(circulated herewith)
c) Joint Tallaght Area Committee (1) & Tallaght Area Committee (2) - 22nd October 2012
- Dealing with Community (1 report - Community Grants), Housing, Environment, Parks, Planning & Development, Roads & Water Services, Corporate Services & Libraries
(circulated herewith)
d) Lucan Area Committee - 23rd October 2012
- Dealing with Planning & Development, Corporate Services & Libraries, Community (1 report - Community Grants), Housing, Parks, Environment, Roads & Water Services
(circulated herewith)
STANDING COMMITTEES - ORGANISATION, PROCEDURE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
(H3 no reports)
STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEES
(H4 no reports)
REPORTS REQUESTED BY AREA COMMITTIES
(H5 no reports)
Questions
To ask the Manager to make a statement on how it might improve response times to the following issues:
Overgrown weeds, in fields and other public spaces within the councils remit;
dead or damaged trees posing an immediate threat to property or public safety?
To ask the Manager if there are plans to promote the successful TACKLE LITTER video in schools / Colleges etc.?
To ask the Manager for an update on the cleansing of directional road / street signs that have been recently targeted by graffiti "artists"?
To ask the Manager if, in the case of a tenant being offered work / study abroad for a specific period, there are protections for that tenancy?
To ask that the Manager clarifies the position on property management agencies advertising multiple properties for rent or sale in housing estates?
To ask the Manager, further to my previous motions and questions, most recently at the March 2012 meeting, to report on the commitment to "collect information on all expenditure on goods and services across the organisation and to review the methodology of procurement in each case, with a view to making recommendations on how best the Council can make expenditure savings through more efficient procurement as well as supporting the local economy while complying with procurement legislation and guidelines"?
To ask the Manager to report on this council's implementation of Department of Finance Circular 10-10 "Guidance Doc on SME participation"?
To ask the Manager to provide a detailed update on the council's proposed piloting of LED public lighting technology?
To ask the Manager for a report on costs of public lighting in 2012, compared to the agreed budget; and to outline the measures in place to manage these costs?
To ask the Manager to provide a detailed report on this council’s implementation of the Croke Park Agreement?
To ask the Manager to provide a detailed update on Dublin Fire Brigade’s ongoing risk-based analysis of its area of operations?
To ask the Manager if the first instalment of the Higher Education Grants for the 2012-13 Academic Year have been paid; to ask if there have been delays and if so, to state the reasons; and to make a statement on the provision of grants in general for students based in South Dublin?
To ask the Manager to clarify the amount spent on installing signage featuring the letter "L" and the road designation on local roads in the County for 2012; to ask if it is deemed necessary that such signage be erected; to ask if it intended to continue to erect these signs into 2013; and to make a statement on the matter?
To ask the Manager to report on the status of all sites included on the Derelict Sites Register within South Dublin over the past 12 months, including details as to the ownership, the date entered, the role of the Council in each case, details of any levies paid, details of any impending or previously-taken court cases (legal issues on information provision notwithstanding), and the Council's understanding as to future proposals for each site; to ask the Manager if it is Council policy to inform all Councillors of changes to the derelict sites register, including removal and addition; and to make a statement on the matter?
To ask the Manager to provide electoral area level statistics for the numbers of trees pruned and removed in the 2011-12 Arboricultural Programme; to state if it is currently in the Council's plans for the 2013 Budget to maintain or increase the funding available for this vital work; to ask if the Manager believes there are particular areas of the County where tree pruning and/or removal is viewed as a particular priority; and to make a statement on the matter?
To ask the Manager for a progress report on the naming of major roundabouts / intersections e.g. the M50/N81 and if any consideration has been given to naming major routes, e.g. the N4 Road, as it passes through the County as the “popular” name of “Lucan Road” is quite inaccurate and leads to an anomaly in relation to the existing Lucan Road?
To ask the Manager for an up to date report on the provision of Traveller Accommodation to include:
(a) Number of Traveller families on waiting list, and for how long
(b) Number of Traveller families in private rented accommodation
(c) Number of Traveller Specific Accommodation Units currently vacant
And to make a statement on the matter?
To ask the Manager for a report on the number of households, in relation to the 2012 Household Charge:
(a) Are entitled to a Waiver
(b) Have paid to date
(c) Have yet to pay
And to make a statement on the matter including the effects if any on Council Services?
To ask the Manager for an update on the percentage of households in the County which have registered for and paid the 2012 Household Charge to date?
To ask the Manager for an updated report on the amount by which the Council's allocation from the Local Government Fund for 2012 has been reduced to date as result of the rate of payment by households in the County of the 2012 Household Charge?
To ask the Manager for a progress report on the Window Replacement Programme in 2012, including information on the number, by Electoral Area, of Council houses / flats which have had work completed, or begun, in 2012?
To ask the Manager for a report on the extent of arrears of greater than 90 days amongst Mortgage Holders with loans from SDCC, and if she will outline the approach taken by the Council to work with and assist families who are in arrears?
1.Mar Chomhairle Contae a chothaíonn iolrachas agus urraim do dhaoine Ó thraidisiúin dhifriúla atá ina gcónaí sa Chontae agus chun céiliúradh oiriúnach a chur ar fáil ; cén phlean atá ag an gComhairle chun Féile na Nollag a cheiliúradh i gceart agus an rachaidh an Chomhairle i dteagmháil leis na hEaglais Éagsúla agus na comhphobhail Chríostaí ar fud an Chontae?
2. An dtabharfadh an Chomhairle amharc ar mhainséar a chur suas lasmuigh den leabharlann i mbliana?
1. As a Council that supports pluralism and respect to those from different traditions who live in the County and to provide an appropriate celebration; what plan has the Council to celebrate the Christmas Festival properly and will the Council consult the various Churches and Christian Communities throughout the County?
2.Would the Council consider installing a crib outside the library this year?
Headed Items
DECLARATION OF ROADS TO BE PUBLIC ROADS
(H6 no reports)
PROPOSED DISPOSAL OF PROPERTIES / SITES
(circulated herewith)
b) Proposed Disposal of Portion of Land Adjacent to Cookstown Industrial Estate,Tallaght, Dublin 24 to Henry Denny & Sons (Ireland) Ltd. to Regularise Title
(circulated herewith)
a) Proposed Disposal of Affordable Dwellings
(no report)
PART 8 REPORT – WALKING & CYCLING ROUTE FROM GRANGE ROAD TO GRANGE DOWNS, RATHFARNHAM
(circulated herewith)
PART 8 REPORT – WALKING & CYCLING ROUTE FROM GRIFFEEN ROAD TO R136, BALLYOWEN, LUCAN
(circulated herewith)
APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE CAPITAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME FROM DUBLIN SIMON COMMUNITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 6 OF THE HOUSING (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT, 1992 FOR THE PURCHASE OF A PROPERTY AT RIVERSDALE HOUSE, RIVERSDALE AVENUE, PALMERSTON
(circulated herewith)
APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE CAPITAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME FROM TUATH HOUSING IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 6 OF THE HOUSING (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT, 1992 FOR THE PURCHASE OF A PROPERTY AT 132 FORTUNES LAWN, CITYWEST, DUBLIN 24
(circulated herewith)
APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE CAPITAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME FROM TUATH HOUSING IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 6 OF THE HOUSING (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT, 1992 FOR THE PURCHASE OF A PROPERTY AT 28 BELFRY DOWNS, CITYWEST, DUBLIN 24
(circulated herewith)
DRAFT NEWCASTLE LOCAL AREA PLAN
(circulated herewith)
Correspondence
Ministerial
Letter, dated 17th October 2012, from Minister for Health in response to SDCC's letter in relation to sports sponsorship and the alcohol industry (M4/1012)
Ministerial
Letter, dated 24th October 2012, from Minister for Environment in reply to SDCC's motion regarding proposed merger of CPLN & DVP (M21/1012)
Letter, dated 2nd October 2012, from Oaklee Housing Trust in further response to SDCC's Letter regarding Voluntary Housing Associations & the assessment of FIS in terms of their assessment of Rent (M7/0712)
Letter, dated 3rd October 2012, from Donegal County Council in relation to their motion calling on the Dept. of Social Protection to Restore Benefits to Elderly & Disabled
Email, dated 3rd October 2012, from Dublin City Council in relation to the Planning Scheme for the Grangegorman SDZ
Letter, dated 17th October 2012, from Leitrim Co. Council to Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport regarding their motion passed in relation to Artists Exemption Guidelines
Letter, dated 17th October 2012, from Offaly County Council to Minister for Justice regarding their motion passed in relation to an adequately funded Policing Force
(i) Letter, dated 26th October 2012, from Roughan & O'Donovan, NRA reps., regarding SDCC's motion passed in relation to M50 Landscaping (M18/1012)
(ii) Letter, dated 31st October 2012, from NRA regarding same.
Motions
That it is the view of this Council that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government was not justified in deciding, as advised to the County Manager by letter of 18th July 2012, to cut the allocation from the Local Government Fund to South Dublin County Council by almost two million Euro, almost a 12% cut in the Councils LGF grant of 17 million Euro, which in terms of the population of the County was already the lowest LGF Allocation in the Country, that this Council calls on the Minister to restore the Council's allocation to its original level, and that this Council is seriously concerned about the approach of the Government to the whole question of introducing a Property Tax and or a "Council Charge" to partially fund local authorities, and reiterates its previously expressed view that any new Property Tax and/or revised household charge should be fair and equitable, should not discriminate against householders in South Dublin and Dublin in general, and must have regard to ability to pay.
That this Council requests the Manager to present a detailed report, for discussion, on the funding options available to the Council to develop new community enterprise centre spaces, training space, ‘hot-desking’ facilities etc. (including through the leasing of currently vacant premises) in areas of the county currently not serviced and where there is a clear verifiable demand.
That this Council calls on the government to criminalize the buying (and selling) of sex
That this Council agrees that (i) it is necessary for the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs to examine the new pricing structures announced by Greyhound Recycling with a view to assessing their fairness and accuracy to existing customers - and (ii) if approved requests the ODCA to investigate the new pricing structure forthwith
That this Council discuss, with the aid of a report, the increasing numbers of households applying for Transfer of accommodation due to Anti-Social Behaviour
That this Council calls on the Government to introduce a wealth tax as part of Budget 2013.
That this Council outline what justifications there can be for the reluctance of this Council not to permit advertising on the roundabouts within the County, in circumstances where this Council have hitherto fore accepted and provided advertising at these same roundabouts in previous years and where there are businesses willing to pay for such a service. Reasons given to date include health and safety concerns, disinterest by businesses and that the revenue gathered fails to justify the effort.
Please explain what additional health and safety issues arise that would not ordinarily arise in the general up-keeping and maintenance of our roundabouts. Please explain what possible justification there can be for this Council refusing revenue in a climate of reduced revenue sources. There needs to be a joined up approach in supporting local businesses, these are the same businesses that provide local jobs and pay revenue to this Council in the form of rates.
That this council believes in making safe and legal abortion available on demand of women, in Ireland. This council will publicise this stance, and make it known to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence.
That this council offer an incentive to businesses to change their signage to a type of sign that would be more acceptable aesthetically by offering a reduction in rates to businesses who install improved signage which would be in keeping with the historic village centres in our county.
That this Council congratulates the Manager for the Halloween Initiative of giving each household in the County free access to Ballymount Civic Amenity on Saturday 27th October and acknowledging the vast numbers who used the facility on that day, calls on the Manager to (A) extend the free pass to enter over a weekend instead of just one day, (B) to ensure that the Free Pass is clearly identifiable as such, and (C) in an effort to avoid the large tailback of vehicles, queuing for entry, to consider placement of skips at appropriate locations, outside the Civic Amenity
That this Council commends the ongoing programme of ‘Strategic Support towards Business Development and Survival’; and recommends that this council intensify its efforts to more aggressively brand and promote South Dublin County as an attractive location for foreign-direct investment (noting similar strategies by other local authorities), in particular aimed at targeted sectors including in the area of digital services, as set-down in objective 3 of the business support agenda.
That this County Council, welcoming in the main, the recent proposals from National Government for the future funding of Local Government, now requests that the Manager write to the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, copied to the Minister for Finance, asking should the Government persist with the proposed Residential Property Tax, that it be only introduced in tandem with the devolution of full responsibility for the funding of local government to elected local representatives and that it include guarantees that such local fundraising will be coordinated with general taxation and include provision for linkage to household income and ability to pay.
Go ndáilfear an Comhairle seo achoimrí stairiúla dátheangacha atá oiriúnach do dhaltaí scoile, idir mheánscoileanna agus bhunscoileanna, ar Ábhar na gcuimhneachán tábhachtacha céad bliain atá ag tarlú sna blianta amach romhainn agus go dtabharfar treoir do mhúinteoirí conas an t-eolas atá ar fáil sna meáin a Úsáid i gceart sa rang scoile.
That this Council will distribute bilingual historical summaries that are suitable for pupils, both secondary and primary schools, on the subject of the important hundred year commemorations that will occur over the coming years and that guidance will be given to teachers how to use the information available in the media in the classroom correctly.
That this Council asks the Library and Community Services Departments, along with other relevant sections of the Council, County Dublin VEC and other interested bodies, to seek to put in place a pilot project to deal with cyber and text bullying amongst children and young people. This pilot would be based in a suitable cluster involving at least one post-primary school, at least one primary school and at least one other relevant organisation such as a youth club or community group. The pilot would seek to utilise the County's Library Services in particular as information hubs to assist parents, schools, youth organisations and young people themselves in dealing with cyber and text bullying, with a view to being extended County-wide into the future.
That this Council requests the Minister for Environment, Local Govt. and Community to make provision for early and/or postal voting so as to facilitate citizens who, for various reasons, are unable to be physically present at their local polling station on polling day, and that this matter be debated.
That the Manager ensure residents are fully informed of upcoming road works etc. with a schedule of works / advice posted to the relevant households
That this Council opposes the new taxi branding signage which will be phased in to Ireland’s taxi fleet from January of next year which will see taxi drivers pay licensed official suppliers to print and fit the branding
That this Council calls on the Manager to review the policy of sending demands for historical waste collection charges to Primary Schools and Community Centres in the County and to consider in that review the capacity of these schools and centres to pay waste charge invoices that date back in some cases to 2007 and to the distress caused to these financially challenged institutions.
That this Council should receive the same level of allocation per resident from the Local Government Fund in 2013 as Fingal County Council, and that the Manager would write to the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government conveying this view, and copy the letter to the Dail Deputies representing the Dublin Mid-West and South West constituencies.