COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 10, 2022

HEADED ITEM NO. 4 e) (ii)

Minutes of Social, Community & Equality Strategic Policy Committee Meeting at 3p.m. on Tuesday 17th May 2022 via Microsoft Teams

In Attendance: Cllr. T. Gilligan (Chair), Cllr. V. Casserly, Cllr. C. O’Connor, Cllr. S. O'Hara, Cllr. P. Holohan, L. Byrne (PPN) and D. Hennessy (PPN).

Apologies: Cllr. C. Bailey.

Officials Present:  C. Ward (Director of Services), J. Moroney Ward (Senior Executive Officer), J. Hayden, (Administrative Officer), M. Nugent (Administrative Officer), P. Swayne (Administrative Officer) P. McAlerney (Senior Community Officer), M Murtagh, (Administrative Officer) F. Keane (Senior Staff Officer), M. Travers (Assistant Staff Officer), B. Fowler (Assistant Staff Officer), M. Farrell (Clerical Officer).

The Chair, Cllr. Gilligan opened the meeting at 3pm and welcomed Cllr. O’Connor as a new member of the committee.

H1. Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 15th February 2022 were agreed.

H2. Community Facilities Survey

J. Moroney Ward delivered a report on the recent survey of community facilities in the County, undertaken by the Community Department to examine an updated picture of the size, age and usage of the centres as well as to understand the gaps in programme delivery.

There were contributions from Cllr. Holohan on whether usage in the facilities is primarily led by private groups or for Council-led initiatives while L. Byrne also highlighted the difficulties local groups face in securing insurance for activities that were addressed by C. Ward and J. Moroney Ward and the report was noted.

H3. Community & Sports Grants

J. Hayden updated the committee on the 2022 Community & Sports Grants programme, outlining 2022 processes, budgets and activity to date for community and sports grants in the County. The online application process was explained, including the use of Salesforce software to manage applications and the report was noted by the Committee. 

H4. Capital Projects

P McAlerney gave a presentation updating the Committee on progress on various capital projects including Lucan Swimming Pool, Glenasmole Community Centre, Saggart Community Centre and other projects currently being undertaken.  Contributions from Cllr. Gilligan and Cllr. Casserly concerning delays on the Lucan swimming pool were responded to by C. Ward who advised that there has been ongoing engagement with the contractor but he is experiencing various supply chain and other challenges with the project but that further updates will be provided when more detail is available on a revised timeline and the report was then noted.

H5. Age Friendly Programme

A pre-recorded presentation by P. Swayne was made available to the Committee in advance outlining the Age Friendly Programme including details on the re-launching of the Older Persons Council, the possibility of having age-friendly parking in community centres and a discussion about an age friendly ambassador in the Libraries.  The report was noted.

H6. Sport Programmes

A pre-recorded presentation by T. McDermott was made available to the Committee in advance outlining the Sport Programmes.  C. Ward provided a summary of the priorities and key initiatives of the sports programmes. He advised that funding is available from Sport Ireland for the Active Cities programme in South Dublin and he also informed the Committee that there would be a pilot on-line booking system in two community centres.  Following contributions from L. Byrne and Cllr. O'Connor, it was confirmed that Adamstown and Kilnamanagh are the pilot sites and that it would be intended to roll the system out to other centres in the near future and the report was noted.

The report was noted.

H7. Information/Updates:

C. Ward gave a brief outline of the items listed below reports for which were provided for the Committee's information:

The reports were noted.

H8. Any Other Business

There was a brief discussion regarding the model for future meetings, with the Chair noting that he would be agreeable to continuing with remote meetings, but this could be reviewed before the next scheduled meeting in September if necessary.

There was no further business and the meeting concluded at 4:15pm.