The Mayor, Councillor. H. Mahony, at the start of the meeting reminded Members that Standing Orders would apply to all aspects of the meeting.

Minutes of the County Council Meeting held on 8^th May 2023 which had been circulated were considered. 

It was PROPOSED by Councillor K. Dennison, seconded by Councillor K. Power and RESOLVED –

“That the minutes of the County Council Meeting held on 8^th May 2023 be ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, setting out the required procedures, which had been circulated was READ.

The nomination of Brendan Ryan to fill the casual vacancy was proposed by Councillor R. O’Donoghue and seconded by Councillor M. McCamley.

In accordance with Section 19 of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended, Brendan Ryan was co-opted as a Member of Fingal County Council.

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was proposed by Councillor R. O’Donoghue, seconded by Cllr. J. Walsh and AGREED:

“That Councillor Brendan Ryan be appointed to the Community Development, Heritage, Culture & Creativity Strategic Policy Committee.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was proposed by Councillor R. O’Donoghue, seconded by Cllr. M. McCamley and AGREED:

“That Councillor Brendan Ryan be appointed to the North Dublin Regional Drugs and Alcohol Task Force.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was proposed by Councillor R. O’Donoghue, seconded by Cllr. M. McCamley and AGREED:

“That Councillor Brendan Ryan be appointed to the County Heritage Forum.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was proposed by Councillor R. O’Donoghue, seconded by Cllr. M. McCamley and AGREED:

“That Councillor Brendan Ryan be appointed to the Comhairle Na nÓg Committee.”

It was AGREED to DEFER this item to the July Council Meeting.

The Mayor, Councillor. H. Mahony, advised the Members that an emergency motion had been received prior to the meeting.

The motion from Councillor A. Graves was ruled in order and would be heard 15 minutes before the end of the meeting.

It was proposed by Councillor K. Dennison, seconded by Councillor C. Boland and RESOLVED:

“That in accordance with Standing Order No. 53, Questions numbered 8 to 18, be ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.  It was proposed by Councillor K. Power, seconded by Councillor R. O’Donoghue and RESOLVED:

“That the recommendations contained in the report of Committee of Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords (B) meeting held on 11^th May 2023, are hereby ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was proposed by Councillor H. Mahony, seconded by Councillor E. O’Brien and AGREED.

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.  It was proposed by Councillor T. Kitt, seconded by Councillor M. McCamley, and RESOLVED:

“That the recommendations contained in the report of Committee of Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/Castleknock/Ongar Services B meeting held on 1^st June 2023, are hereby ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.  It was proposed by Councillor A. Lavin, seconded by Councillor E. O’Brien and RESOLVED:

“That the recommendations contained in the report of the Howth Malahide Area Committee Services B meeting held on 7^th June 2023 be ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.  It was proposed by Councillor A. Henchy, seconded by Councillor K. Power and RESOLVED:

“That the recommendations contained in the report of the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee Services B meeting held on 8^th June 2023 be ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.  It was then proposed by Councillor M. McCamley, seconded by Councillor K. Dennison and RESOLVED:

“That the recommendations contained in the report be ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive which had been circulated was CONSIDERED.   It was proposed by Councillor H. Mahony and seconded by Councillor K. Dennison and RESOLVED:

“That the lands referred to in the attached report be exchanged in accordance with the terms specified therein.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was AGREED to DEFER this item to the July Council Meeting.

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED.

It was AGREED to DEFER this item to the July Council Meeting.

The report by the Chief Executive which had been circulated was CONSIDERED.  A presentation was given to the Members by Paul Barnes, Events Manager.  Following discussion, the report was NOTED.

The attached report by the Chief Executive which had been circulated was CONSIDERED.  It was proposed by Councillor E. O’Brien, seconded by Councillor K. Dennison, and RESOLVED:

“That the Active Travel Strategy for Fingal is hereby ADOPTED.”

The report by the Chief Executive, which had been circulated, was CONSIDERED. 

During the course of the discussion the following motion was proposed by Councillor A. Graves and seconded by Councillor A. Donnelly.

“The Sinn Féin team will establish a committee to explore options on the re-municipalisation of Fingal’s Domestic Waste Collection services, by setting up cross-party group similar to that established in Dublin City Council. We are calling on the Chief Executive to support the objectives of this group by providing necessary resources.”

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS

The Mayor called for a 3 minute break.

Following discussion, the Mayor instructed that a roll call vote be taken on Cllr A. Graves motion and on a division the voting resulted as follows:

FOR:            13      THIRTEEN

AGAINST:    21      TWENTY ONE       

ABSTAIN:        1        ONE

FOR:   Councillors Hopkins, Joan; Mulville, Paul;  Burtchaell, John; Mulligan, Dean; Donnelly, Angela; Hanaphy, Breda; Graves, Ann; Tracey, Natalie; Whooley, Daniel; Power, Karen; Walsh, John; Doyle, Tania; Humphreys, James.

AGAINST:      Councillors Mahony, Howard; Maguire, Grainne; Murphy, Tony; Carey, Ian; O’Brien, Eoghan; Kitt, Tom; Manton, Brigid; McCamley, Mary; Tormey, Aoibhinn; Shovlin, Siobhan; Lavin, Anthony; Newman, Joe; Boland, Cathal; Healy, David; Henchy, Adrian; Butler, Darragh; Dennehy, Brian; O’Donoghue, Robert; Dennison, Kieran; Leddy, Ted; Rane, Punam.

ABSTAIN:     Councillor Onwumereh, JK.

The Mayor then DECLARED the Motion LOST.

The Chief Executive’s report was NOTED.

It was NOTED that there was no business under this heading.

The notice which had been circulated was NOTED.

The notice which had been circulated was NOTED.

The notice which had been circulated was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The correspondence, which had been received, was NOTED.

The Mayor sought the agreement of the Members to vary the order of business and to take Agenda Item 34 at this stage and this was AGREED by the Members.

The motion, in the name of Councillor D. Whooley was proposed by Councillor D. Whooley and seconded by Councillor H. Mahony.

Following discussion, the motion was AGREED.

The motion, in the name of Councillors J. Hopkins and P. Mulville was proposed by Councillor J. Hopkins and seconded by Councillor P. Mulville.

Following discussion, the report of the Chief Executive was ACCEPTED.

The motion, in the name of Councillor JK. Onwumereh was proposed by Councillor JK. Onwumereh and seconded by Councillor B. Dennehy.

Following discussion, the motion was AGREED.

The motion, in the name of Councillor C. Boland was proposed by Councillor C. Boland and seconded by Councillor K. Power.

Following discussion, the report of the Chief Executive was ACCEPTED.

It was AGREED to DEFER this item to the July Council Meeting.

The motion, in the name of Councillor P. Rane was proposed by Councillor P. Rane and seconded by Councillor K. Dennison.

Following discussion, the report of the Chief Executive was ACCEPTED.

The report on the motion in the name of Councillor K. Power was ACCEPTED.

The report on the motion in the name of Councillor T. Murphy was ACCEPTED.

The report on the motion in the name of Councillor D. Mulligan was ACCEPTED.

The following emergency motion in the name of Councillor A. Graves was proposed by Councillor A. Graves and seconded by Councillor N. Treacy:

“In light of time constraints - that this Council calls on the Chief Executive to seek independent legal opinion on behalf of elected representatives who have concerns around the omission of a summary of the HSE submission to the Ministerial Direction as part of the Chief Executives report.  Specifically advising whether an addendum is required to ensure a balanced report.

Section 31(9) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) states that the Chief Executive’s Report on submissions received by the Planning Authority is required to:

(a)         summarise the views of any person who made submissions or observations to the planning authority;

(b)         summarise the views of and recommendations (if any) made by the Elected Members of the planning authority;

(c)          summarise the views of and recommendations (if any) made by the regional assembly;

(d)         make recommendations in relation to the best manner in which to give effect to the draft direction.

As stated by the Executive, “While the Act does not reference specific public bodies and that as a result submissions from such bodies fall under category (a) the views of any person who made submissions or observations to the planning authority and while the submission from the HSE (FIN-C568-14) was listed as one of the submissions received” the same logic could be applied to the submission from the daa which was summarised.  It would appear that of the 163 submissions, only one submission, received from daa expressed views which were supportive of Draft Direction 2(c) and this was the one that was summarised, while the HSE, has rejected the ministerial direction and called for the retention of standards that protect human health and asserts that the original text is not inconsistent with the National Objectives as stated by FCC and the OPR and supports the amendment that councillors agreed.  They further state that “The inclusion of the strategic objectives in the Fingal Development Plan was a health protection measure. If the Ministerial Direction is confirmed, then these health protection standards should be incorporated into the Noise Abatement Strategy formulated by the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority.”

The omission of a summary of such importance is concerning and one that needs clear and explicit legal advice for Councillors to ensure that there are no ambiguities in the future that would impact negatively on the Development Plan.”

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS

It was AGREED to extend the meeting by 15 minutes to conclude the consideration of the emergency motion.

Following discussion, the motion was AGREED.