Ten ‘big moves’ in Dublin city centre taskforce plan to cost up to €1bn
Ten of the so-called “big moves” contained in the Dublin city centre’s taskforce report would cost up to €1bn to implement, councillors have been told.
In response to queries at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Dublin City Council (DCC), planning executive Anthony Flynn said the preliminary price tag for the ten main actions in September’s report was between €750m and €1bn.
The “big moves” include the delivery of 1,000 more gardaí for the capital, the revitalisation of O’Connell Street and its environs, the regeneration of social housing complexes in the city centre, and the conversion of derelict sites into high-density residential buildings.
DCC also delivered an update on the programme’s progress, telling councillors that a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be set up shortly.
The council-owned company would progress the taskforce’s priorities, in consultation with government departments and agencies, and be overseen and supported by the Department of the Taoiseach.
Councillors were broadly supportive of the plan, but criticised the lack of concrete funding and the involvement of the Department of the Taoiseach.
“I’m blue in the face from saying this: when are we going to see a budget allocated for this?” Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis said.
“Some amazing work, amazing ideas, a lot of it council-led, if not all of it. But when are we going to see real commitment in terms of investment financially?”
Mr Flynn said that while the funding stream for the plan was not “set in stone”, his engagement with government over the last ten months had him “quite confident” that the requisite funds would be forthcoming.
Independents 4 Change councillor Pat Dunne said a mooted bedroom tax on Dublin tourists could be a viable way to contribute funds to the project.
“Already I’ve heard the hoteliers complaining that this will price tourists out of the market and away from Dublin,” he said.
“I suggest what is really driving tourists away from Dublin is the profiteering of the Dublin hoteliers when there’s a concert or a football match on.”
Mr Dunne also brought up the longstanding gripe of Dublin councillors that local property tax in the city is funnelled into central government coffers to be redistributed to other local authorities, rather than directly onto DCC’s balance sheet.
“Local property tax that is paid by Dubliners should stay in Dublin, and we should be banging that message at every table, because that is how we can fund this,” he said.
Labour councillor, Dermot Lacey, said his main concern with the proposal was that it was to be overseen by civil servants in the Department of the Taoiseach.
“I don’t want a body that’s led by the civil service, the civil service who have led to the destruction of this city over the years. I want to see an elected body determining the future of this city,” he said.
“If we want this structure to work, we have to strengthen the democratic governmental element of it.
“So far, I’m not convinced the government is serious about that at all,” he added.