Dublin Task Force – where have all the big ideas gone?
Dublin Task Force - where have all the big ideas gone? - The Labour Party
- No mention in the implementation plan of the big ideas in waste management, policing, the arts and cycling/transport that were a central part of the task force report
- Not yet clear if Government department involvement is there to support or to strangle the vision of the taskforce.
- Early omens not good with a watered down implementation plan for Dublin.
- Need for directly elected Major has never been greater.
Responding to the publication of the Roadmap for Delivery for the Dublin City Taskforce Report, Labour’s Marie Sherlock TD for Dublin Central called out Government’s abandonment of the most ambitious proposals in the Dublin City Task force report.
Deputy Sherlock said:
“For those of us serious about change in Dublin, it is very obvious Dublin City Council (DCC) cannot do it on its own and in that context the involvement of government departments is absolutely crucial. Whether those departments will strangle or support a vision for Dublin remains to be seen. But it is very clear from yesterday’s plan that a lot of the biggest and boldest ideas are gone. Unfortunately, the Government is now turning its back on some of the big ideas that it published and endorsed pre general election.
“There is no mention of the need for 1000 extra gardaí. No reference to a single waste management provider in city centre.
“There is a lots of talk about developing cultural corridors, but there is no detail on how this will be done. The task force rightly recognised that DCC’s “Space to create” to co-fund artist spaces should be expanded. That too appears to be gone and the plans for expanding the nighttime economy are simply not credible in the absence of licensing law reform.
“Dublin is one of Europe’s third most congested cities and is in need of radical thinking on better allowing us all to get around. The task force produced great ideas on last mile delivery project and the repurposing some major car parking for cycle parking and logistics but these too appear to have fallen by the wayside.
“There is no big idea in housing other than fighting talk on addressing vacancy and dereliction and progressing with the city’s refurbishment works of social housing. There is a great irony in that the task force rightly recognised that DCC’s funding should be significantly increased to purchase vacant and derelict property and that there should be a grant aid scheme for city centre essential workers. Instead, Government wants to hike up rents for working people, all in the name of inducing more institutional investors to build in Dublin.
“Good luck to the new oversight board and the legal implementation body. Without a bold and imaginative plan and crucially without clear funding plan, it is almost impossible to see it make the radical changes desperately needed in our city. Last October and a month out from the election, Taoiseach Simon Harris eloquently wrote that “this won’t work if it is another Government plan.” Reading the implementation report might suggest otherwise.”