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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, March 09, 2020

QUESTION NO. 11

QUESTION: Councillor Shane Moynihan

To ask the Chief Executive for a report on the utilisation and financial performance, in tabular form, by year and by electoral area, of the community centres in the County for the past two years.

REPLY:

Community centres in the County are managed by independent local voluntary management companies and are legal companies in their own right. They are independent of the Council and are established as companies limited by guarantee and must comply with company law and make annual returns to the Company Registration Office.

While the Community Department does not maintain a record of the utilisation or financial performance each company managing a community centre in the manner requested, it does have oversight of each by way of signed management licence from the Council. This requires the company to provide services to meet the needs of the local community in a sustainable financial model.

In addition, community centres who apply to the Council for annual management and assistance funding are required to submit their most recent audited accounts as part of the process.   It is also intended to shortly establish a forum for community centre boards of management within the County to facilitate sharing best practice and information with particular reference to governance issues. The Council’s Community Development team support and advise community centre boards of management and will continue to be available to do so.