DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2019 Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 2 CONTENTS PAGE Lord Mayor’s Welcome 5 Chief Executive’s Welcome 7 Members of Dublin City Council 9-13 Senior Management Team 15 Introduction 17 Chief Executive’s Office 19-28 Housing and Community Services 29-52 Environment and Transportation 53-63 Planning and Property Development 65-72 Culture, Recreation, and Economic Services 73-86 Information Systems 87-88 Human Resources and Corporate Services 89-94 Glossary of Terms 95-97 Introduction to Annual Financial Statements 99-105 Statement of Accounting Policies 106-109 2019 Annual Financial Statements and General 110-117 List of Appendices 119 Appendix 1 - Members of Strategic Policy Committees at December 2019 121-127 Appendix 2 - Activities of the Strategic Policy Committees 129-134 Appendix 3 - Dublin City Council Performance Indicators 135-147 Appendix 4 – Annual Service Delivery Plan 2019 – Progress Report 2019 149-153 Appendix 5 - Dublin City Council Customer Service Action Plan 2018-2020 - Progress 155-156 Report 2019 Appendix 6 - Dublin City Council Development Contributions Scheme 157 Appendix 7 - Conferences & Seminars 159 Appendix 8 - Dublin City Council Recruitment Competitions 161-163 Appendix 9 - Members of Dublin City Council Joint Policing Scheme 165-169 Appendix 10 - Dublin City Council Corporate Plan 2015-2019 - Progress Report 2019. 171-231 Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 3 Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 4 Lord Mayor’s Welcome It was a great honour to be elected the 350th Lord Mayor of Dublin in June 2019 and become first citizen of my home city. This position has given me a unique opportunity to meet thousands of Dubliners, invite varied groups into the Mansion House and welcome international visitors to Dublin. I have met unsung heroes of our communities who help people every day in sport, social justice, music and the arts and have had the pleasure to be in a position to honour them and thank them for their service to Dublin. One of my priorities as Lord Mayor was to enhance connections between Dublin and other major cities in Europe and I met with my counterparts in London, Athens, Barcelona and Berlin to explore ways we can strengthen relations between Dublin and those cities. A lot of the problems can be found in cities, but I find the solutions are found there too so by working together we can address common issues affecting our citizens. One of the highlights of 2019 had to be the Dubs historic 5 in a row which happened on the same weekend as our Dublin Ladies 3 in a row. The joint celebrations brought all Dubliners together to celebrate these achievements. After this unique achievement, it was an honour to nominate Dublin Manager Jim Gavin to be conferred with the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin. We have ongoing challenges in our city that we must continue to address including provision of housing and understanding the definition of public housing. We need to challenge policy makers to be climate brave and make tough decisions which may not be popular but are necessary for the planet we live on. We have to provide mobility in the city for all modes of transport and pedestrians and we need to challenge some of the issues affecting our communities including the use of scrambler bikes and drug dealing in our neighbourhoods. We will continue to work together on these and other issues to make Dublin a better city for all. There are also very positive stories about Dublin and I was delighted to work with our City Libraries to roll out library cards for all children in Dublin to encourage life-long learning, with the Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership on Sportsfest and see so many trying out new sports, our Events Team on the various free family events which take place around the City and the Parks Department in promoting the wonderful parks and open spaces on our doorstep. The Mansion House had the honour of welcoming the joint Houses of the Oireachtas for a special meeting in the Round Room at the Mansion House on 21st January 2019 to commemorate the first meeting of the Dáil Éireann which took place there 100 years ago. We will continue to commemorate the birth of our nation throughout this Decade of Commemorations by supporting national and local community events. Running a city needs a strong City Council, and I thank my fellow elected councillors, the Chief Executive Owen Keegan and all the staff of Dublin City Council for their support, hard work and continued commitment to the city, its citizens and our future. Paul Mc Auliffe Lord Mayor of Dublin Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 5 Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 6 Chief Executive’s Welcome Dublin saw another year of buoyant economic growth in 2019 with further growth in employment and a reduction in unemployment. However, while housing supply continued to recover new dwelling completions were still well below the level required to meet underlying demand with the result that accessing suitable affordable accommodation is still a major challenge for family and single person households in the city. The number of homeless families and individuals in emergency accommodation increased although there was a very welcome reduction in rough sleeping. Dealing with homelessness is a major challenge for the City Council. Our Housing staff, working with partner organisations, continue to provide emergency accommodation for record numbers of families and individuals presenting as homeless. I commend their hard work and dedication. 2019 saw further welcome progress in the delivery of social housing in the city and in the development of key City Council sites including, in particular, O’Devaney Gardens. In addition to new construction, social housing was made available through the Housing Assistance Payment scheme, through leasing and the acquisitions of existing dwellings. We need to redouble our efforts in 2020 and beyond, especially in the delivery of new social housing, if we are to turn the tide in terms of homeless households. The City Council adopted a comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan in 2019, which will guide our actions in both mitigating the impacts of climate change and in seeking to reduce the causal factors. We are also looking critically at how the Council can deliver its services while minimising any negative impacts on the environment. Local Elections were held in May 2019. The City Council welcomed 25 new Councillors and 38 returning Councillors. This was the first election where the online voter registration system Voter.ie, developed by the four Dublin local authorities, was used. It performed very satisfactorily. Following the election of the City Council, we were required to prepare a new Corporate Plan, which was adopted by the Council in January 2020. This will guide the Council’s actions over the coming years. 2019 also saw the Dublin Senior Football Team winning the historic five All Ireland titles in a row. The Dublin Ladies Football Team were also successful for the third time. Dublin City was proud to host a Civic Reception to celebrate these successes. The City Council also unanimously agreed to confer the Freedom of the City on Jim Gavin, the outgoing Dublin Manager in recognition of his achievements. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the contribution and hard work of all City Councillors and staff in the delivery of Council projects and services during the year. Owen P Keegan Chief Executive Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 7 Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 8 Members of Dublin City Council 2019 North Central Area Councillors Councillor Party Affiliation Electoral Area Comment Cllr. Patricia Roe Artane/Whitehall Social Democrats Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr. Racheal Batten Artane/Whitehall Fianna Fáil Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr. Alison Gilliland Artane/Whitehall The Labour Party Cllr. Declan Flanagan Artane/Whitehall Fine Gael Cllr. John Lyons Artane/Whitehall Non-Party Cllr. Larry O’Toole Artane/Whitehall Sinn Féin Cllr.Paddy Bourke Beaumont/Donaghmede Independent Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Edel Moran Beaumont/Donaghmede Sinn Féin Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Michael O'Brien Beaumont/Donaghmede AAA Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Catherine Stocker Clontarf Social Democrats Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr. Donna Cooney Clontarf Green Elected 1/6/2019 Party/Comhaontas Glas Cllr. Sean Paul Clontarf Fianna Fáil Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Ciarán O'Moore Clontarf Sinn Féin Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Damian O’Farrell Clontarf Non-Party Cllr. Deirdre Heney Clontarf Fianna Fáil Cllr. Jane Horgan Jones Clontarf The Labour Party Cllr. Naoise Ó Muirí Clontarf Fine Gael Cllr. Daryl Barron Donaghmede Fianna Fáil Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr. Lawrence Donaghmede Green Elected 1/6/2019 Hemmings Party/Comhaontas Glas Cllr. Terence Flanagan Donaghmede Fine Gael Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr. Tom Brabazon Donaghmede Fianna Fáil Cllr. Micheál Donaghmede Sinn Féin MacDonncha Dublin City Council Annual Report and Accounts 2019 Page 9 North West Area Councillors Councillor Party Affiliation Electoral Area Comment Cllr. Cathleen Carney Boud Ballymun Sinn Féin Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Áine Clancy Ballymun Labour Party Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Andrew Keegan Ballymun PBPA Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Andrew Montague Ballymun Labour Party Term End 31/5/2019 Cllr. Norma Sammon Ballymun Fine Gael Term End 31/5/2019 Councillor Keith Connolly Ballymun/Finglas Fianna Fáil Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr. Caroline Conroy Ballymun/Finglas Green Party/Comhaontas Elected 1/6/2019 Glas Cllr. Mary Callaghan Ballymun/Finglas Social Democrats Elected 1/6/2019 Cllr.