COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, October 14, 2019
QUESTION NO.31
QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor
To ask the Chief Executive to confirm actions he is taking to encourage Community Groups and Associations to seek Deputation meetings and in reporting will he hive details in respect of the whole issue and make a statement?
REPLY:
The Council’s Community Development team arranges regular deputation meetings in accordance with requests from community groups. These meetings which generally are held on the last Wednesday of each month (excluding July, August & December) are attended by appropriate staff from various Council departments in line with the agenda items submitted for discussion by the community groups.
The Deputation meeting process is an opportunity for Residents Associations or established community groups to meet with Council management and Elected Members. The meetings are not intended to facilitate individual queries from members of the public, which can be dealt with separately through the Elected Members’ Membersnet system or alternatively through the Council’s Customer Care System.
Residents Associations or community groups applying for deputation meetings are required to be members of the Public Participation Network and must also complete the necessary documentation and application process at least 21 days in advance the proposed meeting date with full details available at the following link: http://www.sdcc.ie/services/communities/deputations
If any Member is aware of a group who wish to take up the offer of a Deputation meeting then they can supply them with the link to the council's website. If there any other queries they can contact the Community Services Department directly.
It should also be noted that for various reasons including ensuring that meetings can deal with matters raised by groups, the following items are not appropriate for consideration at deputation meetings:
- Areas that have not been taken in charge by the Council;
- Planning files – both where decision is due and decision has been made;
- Planning developments in progress;
- Planning enforcement cases;
- Traffic issues previously considered at traffic management meetings with the elected members, and traffic congestion issues generally (save for some local issues of concern around schools in certain circumstances);
- Matters relating to published works programmes;
- Part 8 applications under the Planning & Development Regulations 2001-2016;
- Sports Capital Grant Programme applications;
- Enforcement actions under the Environment, Water & Climate Change Directorate;
- Commercially sensitive information.