COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 13, 2017

MOTION NO.4

MOTION: Councillor D. Looney

That this Council, noting that SDCC remains seriously understaffed given the population in the County, endorses SIPTU's "Your County, Your Youth, Your Future" campaign. This Council supports the establishment of a working group to campaign for policies which will tie together Local Authority recruitment and dealing with youth unemployment in our area. 

Report:

South Dublin County Council has been consistently proactive in working to address youth unemployment in the county - effort which was recognised in recent correspondence from SIPTU to the Chief Executive to inform us of their national campaign, in which SIPTU acknowledged that SDCC had taken a lead role on addressing youth unemployment and that our initiatives were noted at pay talk negotiations and that this experience contributed towards the establishment of some of the key support measures in the Public Service Stability Agreement on Apprenticeships, Traineeships and recruitment in the public sector.

This effort is embedded as a core objective of the Corporate Plan: To examine trainee opportunities in the sports and hospitality sections of South Dublin County Council as well as graduate and apprenticeship opportunities within the council. The following are some examples of how we are working to achieve this objective: 

• Apprenticeship programme across the trades of Painters, Plumbers, Fitter Mechanics, Bricklayers and Carpenters;
• Social clauses to provide for local employment in significant construction contracts managed by the Council such as Kilcarbery and the new library in Rowlagh;
• Sportivate - SDCC in partnership with the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board, providing young people between the ages of 18 and 25, the chance to break into the sports industry or to further their education opportunities by undertaking a Level 4 FETAC award. The programme is currently in its second iteration;
• Catering/Hospitality programme for youth unemployed leading to opportunities for employment and/or further training with Institute of Technology Tallaght, Department of Social Protection (DSP) and Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB);
• Meaningful work placements within the Council for students of the Institute of Technology, Tallaght as well as other third level institutions and with local post-primary schools;
• Ongoing participation in Labour Activation programmes such as the Community Employment schemes and previously the Gateway Programme

The reference to an 'understaffing' of South Dublin County Council in comparison to the population of the County is not accepted. The Irish local authority sector has five categories according to population and local authority size, and SDCC is a Level 2 local authority, alongside Cork County and Fingal, with Dublin City Council being the only Level 1 authority. Our Workforce plan - agreed with both the Unions and the Department - is commensurate with us being a Level 2 local authority. Current vacancies do exist but this is due to a high level of retirements and promotional opportunities across the sector nationally. SDCC is competing with other local authorities and public sector bodies to fill a significant number of vacancies in the sector at present.