In the run-up to last year’s local elections and in a bid to establish legitimacy, then-Taoiseach Simon Harris announced the establishment of a Dublin City Taskforce.
The much-touted taskforce pledged to revitalise O’Connell Street, specifically, an area which both Northsiders and Southsiders alike has seen better days.
A year on from the establishment of the Taskforce, the first tangible result of the experiment has reared its head, suggesting a tourist tax and the introduction of a directly-elected mayor.
The project is the brainchild of Fine Gael, and despite having been in government in some capacity since 2011, they have pledged, finally, to do something about Dublin city centre.
In last week’s lead story in the Northside People, this newspaper reported on members of Dublin City Council being furious that a major decision was made on housing without their input, with Minister for Housing James Browne pulling the plug on social housing.
Green councillor Donna Cooney told a meeting of Dublin City Council she only found out about the plan not as a result of a vote among councillors, but from media reports.
The article noted that local democracy across Dublin and Ireland was weak, which makes it surprising that the findings of the Taskforce called for a Dublin Assembly and a directly-elected mayor, similar to what is seen in London.
The directly-elected mayor would have the power to raise revenue and borrow, a feature which is seen in other European capital cities but is notably absent from Dublin.
The taskforce wrote Dublin has 1.45 million people, but decision-making power is unclear and often unaccountable. Councillors and voters are often sidelined once decisions are made.”
To that end, they have proposed the creation of a Dublin Assembly, which would directly oversee the Mayor’s performance, and have proposed that councillors be given more powers on major decisions.
The 32-page document outlines what Fine Gael wants for Dublin, and now the party has put the ball in the court of the people controlling the purse strings.
While Fine Gael controls the all-powerful Minister for Finance brief, the findings and recommendations of the Dublin City Taskforce falls under the purview of the Department of Public Expenditure, which is controlled by Fianna Fáil.
Geoghegan said, “it is essential this vision is now matched by money. The National Development Plan is being negotiated, and it is essential there is a ringfenced budget for the implementation of the taskforce’s recommendations.”
Among the other headline proposals is the introduction of a tourism levy of 5%, similar to what is used in Rome and Barcelona.
It is estimated that if the 5% levy were to be introduced, it could generate as much as €100 million for the Dublin city coffers.
Talks of taxes and directly-elected mayors may appeal to policy wonks, but for the average person on the street, there is a distinct feeling that Dublin city centre is in a state of disrepair.
The findings of the Taskforce call for more CCTV cameras in Dublin city centre, and allowing Gardaí easier access to footage, along with devolving policing plans to councillors.
The usage of CCTV would be used to deter serious crimes and also catch people dumping, an issue which has become prominent in Dublin city centre in recent times.
With just 209 garda-opearated CCTV cameras in all of Dublin, the Taskforce says this number needs to be expanded, and the process which allows Gardaí to access CCTV footage needs to be streamlined.
The Taskforce also calls for the comeback of Community Safety Partnerships, a previous feature of Dublin city life, but has become less prominent over the years.
Dereliction has become a political flashpoint in recent times, and this is reflected in the findings of the Taskforce.
They called for a reform of the Compulsory Purchase Order system, and using data to identify empty homes more accurately.
Geoghegan called the establishment of the taskforce by Simon Harris “a landmark moment for the city,” with Geoghegan asserting “it showed that Fine Gael is serious about tackling the real issues Dubliners face, from safety and housing to public realm and civic pride.”
Finally, the Taskforce will ask members of the public to have their say about what can be done to make the GPO a true tourist attraction.
Members of the public will be asked what role the GPO should function – be it a museum, a central meeting point, or even a relocation of RTÉ to the GPO site.
Naturally, with Fine Gael having been in government since 2011 (and a Northside Taoiseach in office for five of those years) it poses the question – does the plan smack of electioneering?
Local Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon remarked, “having neglected Dublin city centre for 14 years in government, Fine Gael suddenly developed a new-found interest in the regeneration of our capital city.”
“In a blatant display of elecioneering, Simon Harris was happy to use O’Connell Street as a backdrop for his photo-op announcement, which I described at the time as a deeply cynical move.”
Gannon said, “decades of neglect by successive governments have resulted in Dublin suffering from creeping dereliction, creating an environment where the city feels unloved and unsafe.”
“At every level, our capital city continues to suffer from a lack of political leadership. I have little confidence this will change anytime soon under another Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government,” he said.
Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin went so far as to accuse Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of letting the issues facing Dublin “fester.”
“Dublin is a great city and a great place to live, but under this government’s watch, it’s going backwards,” he said.
The housing crisis is the major issue which has plagued past and present governments, and average city centre rents in Dublin now stand at €2,470 a month.
Five years on from the launch of the government’s Housing For All plan, the number of people in homeless accommodation in Dublin has now exceeded 11,000, enough to sell out Tolka Park twice over.
The scramble for housing in the capital is best demonstrated by there being 3,500 applications for 20 cost rental homes in Clongriffin in early June.
“The demand is simply not being met with supply from the government,” he said.
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s approach instead seems to be encouraging people to live outside of the Greater Dublin Area, driving people out of their communities, and away from their family and friends.”
Ó Ríordáin said, “it’s no surprise that we are struggling to keep our educated, talented and bright young people in the capital when costs totally outstrip quality of life.”