“In order for companies like Eircom to upgrade broadband speeds in our area they must be granted way leaves by the Council to carry out works on communications ducts and cabinets located around the County, replacing old copper wires with new fibre optic cables,” Councillor Richmond explained.

“At the moment it is taking the Council an average of 27 days to process each application, as the application is sent through no less than seven departments, one at a time, for approval.

“This compares to Dublin City Council who process applications in an average of one day. Similiarly South Dublin County Council process the average application in three days, while Fingal County Council processes an application in an average of 20 days.

“These processing days are causing major problems for companies like Eircom when it comes to their ‘Fibre to the Home’ programme which is having a knock-on effect on the speed of broadband available in the south Dublin area.

“High speed broadband is essential for new business and new jobs in places like Sandyford and Leopardstown.

“It is in the Council’s own interest that this investment is made but it is the Council’s own levels of bureaucracy that are forcing costly delays. I am calling on the Manager to address this immediately.”

The bus stops here will be upgraded for wheelchair access, from Friday 17th September to Friday 1st October during the hours 8am to 6pm.

Broadford Road

Traffic lane restrictions will be in place due the installation of a speed ramp on Broadford road. Road marking works will also be carried out on this road between 9.30am and 4pm. All works will be taking place from 27th August 2010 to 17th September 2010. Temporary Traffic lights will be in place.

Grange Road

Cycle track restrictions will be in place to facilitate construction works on the Marley park overflow car park boundary wall from Monday 13th September 2010 for 3 months between 9am and 5pm.

Enniskerry Road

Traffic lane and footpath restrictions will be in place to facilitate the upgrading of bus stops for wheelchair access from Kilternan to The Scalp House, and at The Rectory estate from Wed 25th August to Friday 17th September 2010 from 8am to 6pm. Temporary traffic lights with a shuttle system will be in place around the clock.

Glencullen Crossroads (Johnny Foxes)

A new junction will be constructed from the 6th September to 1st October 2010, from 8am to 6pm.

Clonard Park off Sandyford Road

Footpath restoration work will take place from Monday 30th August 2010 for 6 weeks, from 8am to 6pm, until 8th October 2010.

“I have today written to Fine Gael Leader, Enda Kenny asking him to create a specific Front Bench portfolio for Dublin and to commit Fine Gael in Government to appointing a Minister with specific responsibility for the Dublin region. This is not a new proposal, Brian Hayes was previously Fine Gael Front Bench spokesperson for Dublin from 2002 – 2007 while it is an idea that has been raised by numerous academics such as Conor Skehan of DIT.

The figures released today to Leo Varadkar TD hint that Dublin may not be getting its fair share of public spending and investment. Parts of Dublin benefit from LUAS and the DART and Dublin is home to many of our national institutions, international facilities and universities.

“However, Dublin also suffers most from overcrowded school classrooms and choked up hospitals and A&E Departments. It is home to many of the most disadvantaged communities in the country and the highest levels of crime. Public spending in Ireland is incremental with existing services getting an increase (or decrease) every year based on the allocation they got the previous year. This system does not reflect shifts in population that have occurred in the last few decades.

“It is a bit rich that the Gaeltacht region with such a small population has its own Minister when Dublin is ignored by this Government. If we are to rebuild Ireland as a strong entity we must focus first on renewing Dublin. Dublin is the social and economic driving force for this country, it deserves recognition of this as opposed to a watered down, directly elected Mayor as is proposed by the Green Party.

“Put simply, it is time for a Minister for Dublin”

Supporting information includes:

The figures show the tax take broken down by county or ‘bailiwick’ for income-tax (PAYE and non-PAYE), VAT, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains for the year 2002 to 2008 inclusive. In total, the Government raised €31.76 billion from these taxes in 2008 with €16.769 or 52% of that coming from Dublin.

A breakdown of figures shows that:

Income Tax (PAYE):
• Dublin paid 50.6% of all PAYE in 2008 raising more than €5 billion for the Government. This works out at €4,441 per inhabitant.
• Cork came next providing 8% or €1,722 per person.
• Westmeath provided 5.4% or €7,025 per person, Galway 4.5% or €2,046 per person, followed by Kerry (3.5% or €2,571 per person), Limerick (3.3% or €1,881 per person) and Kildare (3% or €1,668 per person).
• All other counties provided less than 2% to the pot.
• The average is €2,449 per person.

Income Tax (Non-PAYE):
Dublin paid 38.8% followed by Cork at 11%, Galway 4.5%, Kildare 4%, Limerick 3.9%, Meath 3.5%, Wicklow 3.4% and Tipperary 3.0%

VAT:
Dublin contributed 55.6% of all VAT, followed by Cork at 8.8% and Kildare 3.4%. All other counties accounted for less than 3% of the VAT take individually.

Corporation Tax:
Dublin-based companies paid 62.4% of all Corporation Profit Tax yielding €3.2bn out of a total tax of €5.1bn in 2008. Cork provided 7.7% and Limerick 4.3%

Capital Gains Tax:
Dublin paid 41% of all Capital Gains Tax with Cork on 7.6%, Kildare on 5.1%, Galway on 4.6%, Wicklow on 4%, Meath 3.5% and Sligo 3%

Note: Of course, there are caveats to these figures. Income Tax is collected at the place where an employee is paid rather than where they live and Corporation Tax is collated based on the county address of the company’s office or relevant branch at which contact is established for tax purposes.

All the figures were received through parliamentary questions, tables showing a county-by-county breakdown of the total amount of tax taken, the amount taken per capita and the percentage of the over all take can be found here. http://is.gd/dtd3e
An explanatory memorandum can be found here: http://is.gd/dtcWL

If you are, you may be eligible for a grant towards the cost of the project. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council wish to invite submissions from community groups, schools, Tidy Towns Committees or other organizations who are interested in receiving funding to co-fund public education and awareness initiatives on the subject of litter or graffiti.

Completed submissions should be made to the Environmental Awareness Officer of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council not later than Wednesday 30th June, 2010.

Application forms are available from

Kate Hynes
Environmental Awareness Officer
Environment, Culture and Community Department
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
County Hall,
Marine Road,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co. Dublin.

01 2054817 or email: environ@dlrcoco.ie

“The Government has been in hiding for the last three weeks, instead of trying to deal at a national level with this crisis facing the country. Despite repeated calls from myself and others, Fianna Fáil and the Greens have failed abysmally to get on top of this issue and show direction.

“Under sustained pressure from Fine Gael, Government Ministers have finally started to surface but nothing tangible has been forthcoming. I believe it is vital that the following three measures must be implemented urgently:

1. I believe that Noel Dempsey and John Gormley should immediately take control of a co-ordinated response to this crisis. The absence of both Ministers throughout this crisis has been a disgrace. Both Ministers receive large salaries for their jobs, and the least you would expect is for them to be available.
2. The Defence Forces should be deployed immediately. Fine Gael. Highly trained Defence Forces personnel, their transport equipment and their experience of extreme weather conditions can play a vital role in tackling the crisis. There are more than 10,000 trained personnel within the Defence Forces.
3. Finally, with grit and salt supplies critically low, we need to find some alternative. No new supplies are arriving for another five days while Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council only has enough stocks to maintain main roads. Taoiseach Brian Cowen has been unable to provide any alternative strategy to source grit and salt. Beach sand is already being extracted in the UK, and in Ireland could at least be used on footpaths. A number of private quarries here have also offered material, which should immediately be examined for suitability.

“This crisis is hitting everyone in our area with many schools closing and local businesses taking a pounding, nationally it is estimated this cold spell will cost the economy in the region of €1oo million. It takes 18 inches of snow to bring New York to a halt. In Ireland, it takes just an inch. This is a disgrace. It’s time for someone in the Government to take action.”