Dublin Directly Elected Mayor

Dublin City Councillors met yesterday evening in the Mansion House to discuss the proposal for a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin. At the meeting they were advised that Minister Hogan will give feedback on their proposal for a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin and his wording for a plebescite sometime after March 11th and before March 31st.

Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick, Dublin Candidate for the European Parliament and leader of the Fianna Fail Group on Dublin City Council, is a long standing supporter of local government reform and a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin. Speaking after the meeting Mary Fitzpatrick said “A directly elected Lord Mayor could make a real difference for Dublin however now it looks like the plebiscite is in real jeopardy and might not even be held. It is completely unacceptable that the Minister is on the one hand insisting that Councillors on the four Dublin Local Authorities hold a meeting and vote on whether or not to put the Minister’s proposal to the people of Dublin before March 31st yet the Minister has not provided City and County Councillors with his wording to allow them consider and debate it.”

Last year the Minister announced that he would allow the people of Dublin to decide on whether or not they want a Directly Elected Mayor. He introduced legislation that required City and County Councillors from the four Dublin Local Authorities to work together to produce a joint report outlining a possible framework for a Directly Elected Mayor for the Minister to consider. This report was submitted to the Minister in December 2013 and he will decide on the final wording for a plebiscite. The Minister’s legislation requires the four Dublin Local Authorities to then vote before March 31st 2014 on whether or not to put the Minister’s wording to the people of Dublin in a plebescite this May.

The Minister is denying councilors and the public the opportunity to debate his proposal by failing to outline the powers and authority he will give to the office.

There is a real risk if the Minister does not give Councillors sufficient time to consider his response to our proposal there will be no referendum on this issue in May and the people of Dublin will be denied their say. This will truly be a missed opportunity for Dublin as surveys show that there is strong support from the general public for a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin

A Directly Elected Executive Mayor could provide real and accountable political leadership for the people of Dublin. This would not only be good for residents and employers in Dublin but it would also greatly enhance Dublin’s ability to compete Internationally.

I call on the Minister to stop sitting on the report and to immediately advise councillors on all four Dublin Local Authorities of his intentions with regards to his proposal for a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin.  Mary

Social Housing

I was delighted to attend the official launch of the Fold Ireland Social Housing Project in Ballygall Road East in Finglas this morning.   This is a great initiative by Fold Ireland and Dublin City Council and it will make a real difference for those fortunate to secure one of the 26 new homes. However, with 20,000 on Dubin City Council's housing list, no matter how welcome this is, it really is just a drop in the ocean.  The government still appears to have no real plan to meaningfully tackle the overall problem. I have repeatedly called on the government to tackle the worsening housing crisis and I again renew my invitation to the Minister to meet with Dublin City Councillors and to work with us to develop a plan to really try to fix the problem.  The government must act now.  Mary

Luas

Works on the Luas cross-city to Broombridge are ongoing in the city center and on Tuesday 25th Feb works will commence on Dawson Street.  As part of these works traffic will be reduced to one lane on Dawson Street, the works will last 3-4 months.  For more information on alternative traffic routes to avoid Dawson Street please click HERE  Mary

Local Area Plan

As a City Councillor I actively engaged and worked with local residents and Dublin City Council planners and administrators to prepare the Phibsborough Local Area Plan which was adopted and approved by the full City Council in 2008.  The need for a plan was driven by the fact that, despite being designated a Prime Urban Center in the City Development Plan, Phibsborough remained underdeveloped and planning standards needed to be set-out to ensure that development of the area and significant large sites in the area would be guided by best planning standards.  It is disappointing that the LAP has not been realized but I reject the proposal brought forward at the end of last year by City Council Planners to scrap the LAP. I raised this issue with the City Manager, the Chair of the Planning SPC and following my representations the matter was put on the agenda of the January and February Central Area Committee.  Following my interventions residents and community groups have been invited to attend a meeting with Dublin City Council's planning department to discuss and agree next steps.  I will continue to work with Dublin City Council, residents and other stakeholders to achive the highest standard of development in Phibsborough.  Mary

Planning Applications

The Grangegorman Development Agency is about to lodge two new planning applications. One is for a new Primary Care Health Centre and the other is for a Dublin Bus Car park which will be located under the replacement bus parking area at Broadstone. The GGDA are holding a drop in information evening on these planning applications on Wednesday the 19th of February between 3.30pm and 7.30pm in the GDA offices. In other news a vacancy has arisen for an elected resident representative on the Board. The GDA Act 2005 states that a new election to select a new resident member must be held and to that end the GDA Community Liaison Officer will be writing out to the registered resident and tenant groups to advise them of the election early next week. Mary

Domestic Waste Collections

From March 3rd all domestic waste collection companies will be required to collect bins on the same day in Dublin city.  Following on from the disastrous decision of Dublin City Council to withdraw from the collection of domestic waste and to handover the service to private collectors there have been many problems in the city.  To try and address some of the problems Dublin City Council approved new bye-laws.  The new bye-laws require all waste operators to collect on the same day in any given area.  Certain days have been designated and agreed with the operators for collection of domestic waste in different parts of the city.  These new designated collection days will commence on Monday, 3rd March 2014.  You can view/download a copy of map showing collection days HERE.  Collections will take place in the Navan Road, Cabra, Phibsborough and Glasnevin areas on a Wednesday and the north inner city on Thursdays. The new collection days come into effect on March 3, 2014.  Mary

Property Tax

The Labour Party 'plans' to cut property tax by 15% is a further insult to Dublin homeowners. The Labour party supported the introduction of Fine Gaels’ unfair and anti-Dublin property tax. Labour conspired to conceal the full impact of the property tax by first introducing it as a six month charge. They encouraged homeowners in Dublin to pay the Local Property Tax by falsely promising them that 80% of their money would be spent on services in their local area. Labour then facilitated the raiding of the more than €100million Local Property Tax collected in Dublin to fund the super expensive, super quango Irish Water. Now they have the brass neck to try and fool the people of Dublin that they are on their side and if re-elected they will reduce the charge by 15%. The fact is a 15% reduction of the Local Property Tax in Dublin would be meaningless for homeowners in Dublin where property prices increased by 16% in 2013 and due to the Government’s failure to tackle the housing crises are set to continue to rise. This latest Labour “promise” highlights their desperation, dishonesty and disconnection from reality.

I don't think people will fall for this cheap stunt. More than 90% of Dublin homeowners paid over €100million in Local Property Tax in 2013, this is set to double in 2014. Yet homeowners in Dublin will see no improvement in local services. There will be no improvement in the quality or reliability of water supply. The only thing Homeowners in Dublin are getting from Labour are more Councillors, less services, a 100% increase in their local property tax, increased commercial water rates and by the end of the year new domestic water charges. There is a strong argument for an easing of the property tax burden, especially in Dublin, but the Labour Party's transparent election stunt is pitiful politics and an insult to every homeowner in Dublin who paid their Local Property Tax. Mary

City Budget must be rejected

At the annual Dublin City Council budget meeting on January 14, 2014 the Fianna Fail group on Dublin City Council will seek the support of Councillors from all parties and none for their motion to reject the budget proposed by the City Manager.

We reject the draft budget and call on all other Councillors to reject it because it is a bad deal for Dublin. The draft budget is unfair and targets the most vulnerable people in Dublin, hard-pressed homeowners, city council tenants and families.

On the 12th march 2013 Minister Hogan stated that 80% of Local Property Tax collected in Dublin City would be spent on local services in Dublin City. Yet despite more than 90% of homeowners in the city paying the local property tax, and almost €40million set to be collected, Minister Hogan has only given Dublin City Council €2million as part of our Local Government grant. As a direct consequence of the Minister’s decision to keep the local property tax money and cut funding to the City Council the draft budget prepared by the City Manager includes a massive rent increase of 14% for city council tenants (many of whom are already in rent arrears), a substantial €5million cut in funding for homeless services, cuts to funding for disability grants, reduction in funding for libraries, parks and pitches.

We will call for a rollcall vote and every Councillor will be given the opportunity to vote on the following Fianna Fail motion:

The elected members of Dublin City Council thank the City Manager and staff for their work preparing the 2014 draft City Budget. We reject the draft budget because it directly contradicts the Government’s promise of March 2013 that 80% of Local Property Tax collected in Dublin City would be spent in Dublin City and it unfairly targets the poorest and most vulnerable in Dublin. We resolve to suspend the budget meeting and call on the Government to provide Dublin City Council with 80% of all the Local Property Tax collected in Dublin City to spend on local services.

Irish Water

Ministers gave assurances in April 2013 that Irish Water consultancy costs would be strictly controlled and they should now own up to their role in Irish Water fiasco.  

In today’s Sunday papers Finance Minister Brian Hayes says that Irish Water is a “PR disaster”. His comments highlight the unacceptable fact and inescapable truth that the Minister and Government are more concerned with PR and spin than they are with good governance. 

Minister O’Dowd has called on Irish Water to disclose a full list of consultants and external companies engaged by Irish Water and the associated costs. By calling for this the Minister is trying to give the impression that this is all news to him. However that is not the case. Early last year when, myself and other FF Councillors began to have concerns about the Ministers plans to transfer water services to Irish Water, I asked Micheal Martin to raise our concerns by way of Parliamentary Question. 

On April 17th 2013 Minister O’Dowd provided a longwinded reply in which he stated that “External service providers, appointed .................... would be subject to rigorous assessment prior to being incurred and to strict control procedures with a view to ensuring that the required work is undertaken in the most economically advantageous way.” Click here for a copy of the questions and the full reply. 

The Minister’s reply gave a clear commitment to the leader of the opposition and the Dail that he would ensure there would be “rigorous assessment prior” to any spending and “strict control procedures” would be put in place when it came to spending on consultants to set-up Irish Water. 

So the question is, what did the Minister do? What was the assessment process that concluded it was “economically advantageous” to spend €100million to create Irish Water so that it could contract the same local authorities that were already delivering water to continue delivering the same water with no improvement in quality or supply? What “assessment” led the Government to spend €100million so that they can increase water charges for businesses and introduce water charges for homes? What “assessment” led the Government to spend €100m to strip local authorities of valuable public assets and saddle local authorities with continuing liabilities and debt?

There is no business case for Irish Water. The Minister ensured Irish Water is exempt from Freedom of Information legislation which makes this super quango unanswerable to the general public. What is most concerning for the general public is not so much the Government's blatant PR spin but that it is them who will be paying for generations for these Ministers mistakes. That senior members of the Government only now appear to be copping-on to this fiasco is alarming if true.  Mary

                 

Europe 2014

I am pleased to confirm that, following encouragement from some Fianna Fail members and Councillors across Dublin, I will seek a nomination from Fianna Fail to contest the 2014 European Election in the Dublin constituency.  I am delighted to have the backing of Fianna Fail members and elected City and County Councillors from the four Dublin Local Authority areas.

This is a very big decision for me and my family. It is both a huge opportunity and challenge. I take great encouragement and strength from the fact that some Fianna Fail members and Councillors are supporting my candidacy and I thank them for putting their trust and faith in me.

Like a lot of people in the 80’s and for far too many again today I had to emigrate. Although I grew-up in a political home and was involved in politics from a young age I spent many years working in Europe and new York before returning to Ireland and first seeking election in 2004. When I first stood for public office, I did so because I wanted to use politics to make a positive contribution to my community and my city.

For the past 10 years I have dedicated myself to working fulltime for my constituents on Dublin City Council. I have campaigned for real political reform, housing, value for money for public services, supports for small businesses, education, equality and the environment. Most of that time I have been on the opposition benches but it has not stopped me calling the parties controlling Dublin City Council and indeed our national government to account on issues such as water metering, property tax and removing access to resources for the disabled.

The European Union plays an increasingly important role in Irish society in terms of legislation and structural funding. Over the next five years the European Parliament will pass laws that will affect the lives of Dubliners and approve budgets that can make a real difference to the lives of Dubliners. If selected as a candidate and elected as an MEP, I will use my experience as a public representative, as a campaigner and as an experienced International business person to fight for the best outcomes for Dublin. If successful, I will act as a conduit between the people of Dublin and the European parliament.

Dublin needs an MEP who is able to work effectively with other MEPs and the influential committee system

to ensure that the needs of our city are recognised and catered for. Dublin needs an MEP that will help open doors and facilitate positive change for Irish interest groups. Dublin needs an MEP that will make the European parliament more relevant to its people. I believe that I am the person for the job and that is why I am seeking Fianna Fail’s nomination to contest the European Election in May 2014.  Mary

Irish Water

At a special meeting of Dublin City Council in December 2013, Councillors voiced strong criticism of the arrangements to transfer water services from DCC to the super quango, Irish Water. I thank City Councillors from all parties and none for voting for the motion I, as leader of the Fianna Fail group proposed, as follows:
"The elected members of Dublin City Council are extremely concerned about the transition of water services from DCC to Irish Water. Based on the report from the Dublin City Manager we believe this is a very bad deal with considerable risk for Dublin City. We call on the Minister for the Environment to meet with a cross party delegation of Councillors and the Manager to address the issues raised in the Managers report before the services are transitioned."
The Minister and Irish Water treated the elected representatives of the people of Dublin and the staff of Dublin City Council with contempt by refusing to attend the special meeting. The Minister railroaded legislation through the houses of parliament before Christmas which will directly impact Dublin cities commercial competitiveness. The Minister’s plan will not only lead to new water charges for homeowners in the city but also to increased commercial water charges for businesses.  Through his legislation the Minister is dictating the disposal of more than €2billion worth of assets, removing democratic input into the future provision of services, saddling Dublin City Council with €330million pension liability and providing no guarantee that water services will not be sold-off and/or privatised in the future. The City Manager presented a damning report to Councillors that highlighted his serious concerns about the following arrangements:
· Dublin City Commercial Water charges will increase and Dublin City Council will not be able to compensate businesses for the increase

· Dublin City Council is to transfer €2billion of assets without any compensation

· Dublin City Council is to retain €330million pension liability for staff who transfer to Irish Water

· Dublin City Council is unable to recoup the full costs incurred under the Service Level Agreement

· Councillors will have no role in agreeing annual service plans for water services in their area

· The Service Level Agreement is still not agreed, 11 days before the transfer

· For the next 12 years there is no get out option in the Service Level Agreement, no matter how unfavourable it is for DCC

The provision of secure and reliable water supply is critical to the city economy. The Minister’s “plan” is bad news for Dublin and just another blow to Dublin from the Minister.  This whole plan exposes the lie that is Minister Hogan’s promise to “put people first” in reforming local government. In reality the Minister is stripping the people of valuable assets, burdening them with excessive costs, removing from them any democratic in-put into future decisions and preparing water services to be potentially sold-off.  Mary

Disability Grants Cuts

This week Minister Jan O’Sullivan was on the air-waves brazenly defending the Governments latest attack on the sick and elderly by saying she is increasing funding for grants to help the elderly and disabled. This is simply not the case. In Dublin funding for these grants has been cut by 33% over the past year. In 2013 Dublin City Council had a budget of €8.8million in 2014 we are facing a cut of €3.2million leaving only €5.6million.  The Ministers latest decision to change the qualifying criteria now means that not only will there be less money for these grants it will be much more difficult for those who need the funding to access it.   I have consistently campaigned for more funding for these grants because they are really important for elderly and sick people. They can mean the difference between being stuck in hospital or a nursing home or coming home. They allow many elderly people to continue to live independently and with dignity in their own homes. Last summer Dublin City Council had to close the scheme and stop accepting grants because it had ran out of funding. Going into 2014 Dublin City Council has a massive backlog of applications, new applications being made every day and less funding from the Government to meet demand.
The Governments attempt to try to disguise the level of demand by amending the qualification criteria is cynical. The fact that the minister is defending her changes to the scheme and at the same time pretending that there is increased funding is unacceptable. The minister has either been mis-informed or is deliberately misleading people. I would call on the Minister to examine in greater detail funding for these important grants and make available adequate funding to meet demand.  Mary

Ashtown Pelletstown Local Area Plan

At the December 2014 monthly meeting Dublin City Council  the Ashtown Pelletstown Local Area Plan was approved by the elected representatives and it came into effect on 30th December 2012. A final copy of the Ashtown/Pelletstown Local Area Plan is available to view/download here.  Mary

Bad Water deal for Dublin

At a special meeting of Dublin City Council yesterday evening myself and my Fianna Fail colleagues voiced strong concerns over the arrangements to transfer water services from DCC to the super quango, Irish Water.  This is a bad deal that will shortchange Dubliners.

I’d like to thank City Councillors for voting for the motion I proposed with the support of the leader of the Labour Group Cllr Dermot Lacey and Cllr Gerry Breen Fine Geal and the Fianna Fail group. The motion reads as follows:

The elected members of Dublin City Council are extremely concerned about the transition of water services from DCC to Irish Water. Based on the report from the Dublin City Manager we believe this is a very bad deal with considerable risk for Dublin City. We call on the Minister for the Environment to meet with a cross party delegation of Councillors and the Manager to address the issues raised in the Managers report before the services are transitioned.

The Minister and Irish Water have treated the elected representatives of the people of Dublin and the staff of Dublin City Council with contempt by refusing to attend this evenings meeting.

The Minister is railroading legislation through the houses of parliament this week which will directly impact Dublin cities commercial competitiveness. The Minister’s plan will not only lead to new water charges for homeowners in the city but also to increased commercial water charges for businesses.

Through his legislation the Minister is dictating the disposal of more than €2billion worth of assets, removing democratic input into the future provision of services, saddling Dublin City Council with €330million pension liability and providing no guarantee that water services will not be sold-off and/or privatised in the future.

The City Manager presented a damning report to Councillors that highlighted his serious concerns about the following arrangements:

· Dublin City Commercial Water charges will increase and Dublin City Council will not be able to compensate businesses for the increase

· Dublin City Council is to transfer €2billion of assets without any compensation

· Dublin City Council is to retain €330million pension liability for staff who transfer to Irish Water

· Dublin City Council is unable to recoup the full costs incurred under the Service Level Agreement

· Councillors will have no role in agreeing annual service plans for water services in their area

· The Service Level Agreement is still not agreed, 11 days before the transfer

· For the next 12 years there is no get out option in the Service Level Agreement, no matter how unfavourable it is for DCC

The provision of secure and reliable water supply is critical to the city economy. The Minister’s “plan” is bad news for Dublin. The Minister has so little confidence in his own plan neither he nor his staff attended this evenings meeting to defend it.

This whole plan exposes the lie that is Minister Hogan’s promise to “put people first” in reforming local government. In reality the Minister is stripping the people of valuable assets, burdening them with excessive costs, removing from them any democratic in-put into future decisions and preparing water services to be potentially sold-off.  Mary

Erris Road Trees

I recently asked Dublin City Councils Area Manager if he was aware that a number of trees on Erris Road in Cabra East are significantly overgrown and need to be pruned?  I asked the Manager to let me know when Dublin City Council would take action to prune the trees and remove the risk of potential damage?  In reply the Manager has advised me that trees on Erris Road are mature Hornbeam and have been listed for pruning in early 2014.  Mary

Killkieran Court

I recently asked Dublin City Council's Area Manager if he was aware that the street sign for Kilkeran Court, Cabra West has been vandalised and needs replacing? and I asked if the Manager would let me know when it will be replaced?  In response the Manager replied to me that Dublin City Council's Traffic Division have been requested to clean the above sign and it will not be necessary to replace it. Mary

 

Nelson Mandela

A Book of Condolence that has been set up in the Mansion House for Nelson Mandela and is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday from 10.00 - 17.00. May he rest in Peace.  Mary

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Death in Phoenix Park

It was very sad to learn that the body of a dead man was discovered in the early hours of this morning in the Phoenix Park. The dead man was discovered near the Wellington Monument in a sleeping bag. The Gardai are keen to talk to anybody who may have been in the vicinity of Wellington Road in the Phoenix Park between 12.30am and 1am today. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cabra garda station on 01 666 7400.

This very sad discovery again highlights the housing crises in Dublin City where despite €millions being spent every year, and close to half a €billion over the last ten years, we have almost 30,000 applicants on the City Council housing list and ever increasing numbers of homeless people.

At Monday's meeting of Dublin City Council we will consider for approval an action plan to end homelessness by 2016. While I support an action plan to address this issue I am very concerned that the draft plan will fail to address the problem. The plan does not include any measurable targets and this makes it weak.

At the November meeting of the Central Area Committee I received unanimous support for the following emergency motion:The elected members of the Central Area Committee support the objective of the Dublin Homeless Action Plan to end the need for people to sleep rough and long term homelessness in Dublin by 2016. To strengthen the draft Action Plan we propose amending the plan to include the target number of housing units and the budget that will be required for each year to achieve the Action Plan’s objectives.

An action plan without measurable targets is like a car without an engine, you can put it on the road but it will go nowhere. I hope the motion I proposed will be adopted by the full council so that the action plan might make some real impact to address the serious homeless problem in our city.  Mary

Free Water for everyone

I welcome the announcement last night by Minister Joe Costelloe TD, at a public meeting in Cabra, that there will be “free water for everyone” when domestic water meters are introduced. Minister Costelloe advised residents, who are concerned over increased charges for less services, that they need not worry about charges for water when the domestic meters are installed because “a political decision has been taken by the government that there will be free water for everyone”. This is very welcome news to all hard-pressed homeowners and I welcome this announcement.

I am concerned however that this announcement might end up being another Labour “promise” that is broken as quick as it is made. Everyone knows that currently commercial water users pay not only for water usage but also for the meter. Can it really be that the Government is going to charge homeowners nothing for installing water meters and supplying water ? It begs the question what is the point of setting up Irish Water? Of transitioning water services from Dublin City Council to Irish Water ?

Myself and my colleagues are concerned that while Minister Costelloe is promising free water for everyone Minister Hogan is still pressing ahead with his crazy plan to transfer water services from Dublin City Council to Irish water on January 1, 2014. This is less than five weeks away and the City Manager has told Councillors that he is extremely concerned that key issues to do with the proposed transition remain uncertain. As a consequence of this uncertainty the City Council is now facing an unprecedented financial crises. The City Council is unable to finalise its €800million budget for 2014 because the Minister has failed to tell the City Council how much funding, if any, it will have next year.

I call on Minister Hogan to stop hiding from this issue and tell Dublin City Council how much funding it will have in 2014 so that we can keep the city open for business over the Christmas and into the New year. Mary

Water Services

Minister Phil Hogan

On November 4th 2013 Dublin City Councillors unanimously backed a Fiánna Fáil motion on the water crisis facing the capital. The motion called for the Environment Minister and executives from Irish Water to come before the City Council to outline their plans for a new water source and other infrastructure improvements required to secure the water supply in Dublin City.

Today the Chief Executive Officer of Irish Water informed Dublin City Councillors that Irish Water is unable to brief elected representatives on the “arrangements” to transition essential water services from Local Authorities to Irish Water. The Chief Executive also indicated that he is awaiting the Minister’s publication of the primary legislation (Water Services Bill 2) to clarify the roles and responsibilities of Irish water.

The lack of clarity and transparency around Irish Water is extremely concerning. It is totally unacceptable that less than five weeks from the proposed transition of water services from Dublin City Council to Irish Water not even Irish Water, the super quango set-up to manage water services, has clarity on its roles and responsibilities.

The 2014 budget for water services in Dublin City alone is more than €130million. It is unbelievable that public spend of this magnitude would be managed in such a slipshod manner. It is imperative that the Minister acknowledges the enormity of his proposal to transfer water services from local authorities to Irish Water and postpones the transition date until all stakeholders have had a chance to review the legislation and put in place robust and adequate plans.

The Minister needs to recognise that at any time Dublin City uses 99% of all the water it produces and with a spare capacity of just 1% the slightest mishap can disrupt supply. Security of supply is always at greatest risk during winter months. Dublin City has already suffered two water restrictions this year, we cannot afford another.

It would be reckless to try to proceed with the transition of water services within such a short time frame and the Minister should postpone the transition until a proper project plan is in place and signed-off by all stakeholders. Mary