COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, February 08, 2010

MOTION NO.18

MOTION: Councillor E. Tuffy

That this Council calls on the Ministers for Environment, Health and Local Government, Transport and other relevant Government Departments to provided to this Council, and to all Local Authorities, sufficient monies, through additional grants to cover all the additional (ie above the normal annual provision) to cover all expenditure incurred in dealing with the consequences of the recent abnormally cold weather, including wages paid to staff, payments to external contractors, payments for additional materials and equipment, expenditure on advertising and other public notices, so that this and other Local Authorities can continue to provide the services budgeted for in Council budgets which could not have included unanticipated costs at the level they occurred , and that the Manager convey this request to the Ministers as soon as he has reliable estimates of the costs incurred, and asking for an early response. 

REPORT:

Circular Letter RLR 03/2010 of 21st January 2010 from the Department of Transport stated that in respect of the Regional and Local Road Grants for 2010 that Road Authorities may incur expenditureof up to 25% of the amounts allocated in April 2009 for Restoration Improvement Grants, Discretionary Maintenance Grants, Discretionary Improvement Grants, Block Grants and Special Block Grants pending the allocation of the 2010 grants. This represents a sum of €626,500 in respect of South Dublin.

The circular also indicated that Road Authorities could, as a result of the exceptional weather conditions and the likely damage to roads, revise their Restoration Improvement Programmes and submit revised details to the Department. The necessary inspections and assessments are underway in this regard.

In the normal course details of each of the individual grant programmes will be submitted to each of the Area committees when the programmes have been finalised and the allocations have been made.

In addition to the the foregoing the Council is also preparing a full estimate of all of the additional costs that were expended in delivering the comprehensive response across all departments of the Council to the adverse weather events from December 2009 to January 2010. Submissions seeking the allocation of additional finances to cover these costs and the costs of full restoration will be made to the relevant Government Departments as soon as they have been finalised.