COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, March 14, 2022
HEADED ITEM NO. 4 (d) (ii)
Minutes of Meeting of Housing Strategic Policy Committee held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, 11 November 2021 via Microsoft Teams
In attendance:
Cllr. Charlie O’Connor (Chair); Cllr. David McManus, Cllr. William Carey, Ms. Sharon Harty (PPN), Mr. Gerry Stockil (PPN), Cllr. Kieran Mahon, Cllr Deirdre O’Donovan and Cllr. Laura Donaghy.
Apologies: Ms. Betty Tyrrell-Collard (ICTU), Cllr. Joanna Tuffy.
Officials in attendance:
Colm Ward, Director of Services; Brenda Pierce, Senior Executive Officer; Neil Hanly, Senior Executive Officer; Elaine Leech, Senior Executive Officer; Michael Murtagh, Administrative Officer; Fionnuala Keane, Senior Staff Officer.
The meeting was chaired by Cllr. C. O’Connor and commenced at 5:30pm.
H1. Minutes of Housing SPC Meeting on 9 September 2021.
The minutes of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee Meeting of 9 September 2021 were AGREED.
H2. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
H3. Housing Delivery Action Plan
C. Ward delivered a presentation on the Housing Delivery Action Plan process and responded to contributions from Cllrs. Carey, Mahon, Donaghy and McManus and G.Stockill in relation to site selection, caps on long term leasing and delivery targets.
The report was NOTED.
H4. Housing Delivery Report (Pre-recorded)
A pre-recorded presentation on Housing Delivery by B. Pierce was made available to the Committee in advance of the meeting which included a time-lapse video of work at Kilcarbery. Following a contribution from Cllr. O’Donovan relating building projects completed in the Rathfarnham/Templeogue area, the report was NOTED.
H5. Statutory Homeless Action Plan 2022-2024
N. Hanly provided an update on the regional Homeless Action Plan and advised Committee members to provide input to him for the DRHE who are drafting the plan on behalf of the Dublin Region.
There was questions and contributions from Cllr. McManus, S. Harty and Cllr. Carey in relation to challenges with homeless accommodation, homeless persons with addictions and coming from prison, and the increases in numbers presenting as a result of the rental accommodation crisis which were responded to by C. Ward and N. Hanly and the report was NOTED.
H6. Allocations and Homeless Report (Pre-recorded).
A pre-recorded presentation on Allocations and Homeless by N. Hanly was made available to the Committee in advance of the meeting. Following contributions from G. Stockil, Cllr. Mahon and S. Harty, C. Ward and N. Hanly responded, advising the Committee of ongoing work with Peter McVerry Trust to ensure best practice responses to homelessness.
The report was NOTED.
H7. Planned Maintenance & Energy Efficiency Programme
E. Leech provided an update on planned maintenance and energy efficiency retrofit programmes, outlining the current challenges associated with the programme including labour and material shortages. She advised that there is a new dedicated workstream & team to deliver planned, cyclical and energy retrofit programmes with extra recruitment & a 2022 apprenticeship programme planned. Other issues of note include:
After contributions and questions from Cllrs. O’Donovan and Carey and G. Stockil, E. Leech responded and advised that the installation of heat pumps has been well received by a number of tenants and that it will be a rolling apprenticeship programme, following which the report was NOTED.
H8. Anti-Social Behaviour (Pre-recorded)
A pre-recorded presentation on anti-Social Behaviour statistics and issues by E. Leech was made available to the Committee in advance of the meeting, highlighting areas of focus for 2022. Cllr. O'Donovan made a contribution following which E. Leech confirmed that the WhatsApp number for reporting anti-social behaviour was local authority homes and social housing tenancies only.
The report was NOTED.
H9. Housing Grants Report (pre-recorded)
A pre-recorded presentation by N. Hanly and B. Pierce on housing grants was made available to the Committee in advance of the meeting, highlighting the different types of grants available: Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability (HAG), Mobility Aid Grants (MAG), Housing Aid for Older People Grant (HOP) and Tenant Disabled Persons Grant (DPG).
There were contributions from S. Harty regarding Occupational Therapist assessments for private house grants and Cllr. Carey in relation to mid-terrace extensions in Council properties and N. Hanly advised that applications in relation to same are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
The report was NOTED.
H10. 2022 SPC Work Programme
C.Ward updated the Committee on the proposed work programme for 2022 for the SPC which was noted and AGREED.
H11. Any Other Business
Cllr. Carey raised queries about the Choice Based Letting (CBL) web portal for housing customers including issues relating to the property details provided which C. Ward responded to, confirming that the portal has the facility to upload more details and both he and N. Hanly would review same. Cllr. Carey also asked about AHB properties and additional costs for their tenants, such as bin charges or additional charges for parking spaces and Cllr. Carey and N. Hanly agreed to discuss further outside of the meeting.
The meeting concluded at 7pm.