Local Elections Manifesto 2019 - #betterdublin - Dublin Chamber
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#betterdublin Local Elections Manifesto 2019
DUBLIN CHAMBER Towards a Better Dublin
MANIFESTO Dublin is the engine of the Irish economy and the beating heart of Irish society.
Home to four in 10 of the population, and generating over half of GDP, the
Greater Dublin Area plays a vital role in meeting Ireland’s economic and social
needs. Its success is critical to Ireland’s success.
Local Elections 2019 The business community takes great civic pride in its capital city. Ireland relies
upon Dublin to generate vital tax revenues, attract foreign investment to the
island, and welcome millions of overseas visitors every year. But businesses are
also concerned about Dublin’s future. By 2031, the region will be home to 2.2
million people. We need to act now to ensure that Dublin is prepared for them,
and for the many changes that face cities throughout Europe and the world.
Dublin Chamber’s vision is that Ireland’s capital city will be globally renowned
for its economic competitiveness and quality of life. To underpin this, Dublin will
need better infrastructure, better planning, greater housing capacity, sustainable
transport, sound finances, and a forward-looking approach to new technologies,
climate change, and the environment. Climate change is a significant economic
issue as well as an ethical one. In order to meet the challenges of the future,
Dublin’s Local Authorities should collaborate with and include Dublin’s
business community in the process of creating a more resilient
and environmentally sustainable city.
Dublin’s four Local Authorities have an essential
role to play in making this vision a reality, but they
must work together in a cohesive way. Dublin
Chamber supports establishing an executive
to drive implementation of a metropolitan
area strategic plan across the four Local
Authorities. With this in mind, the Chamber
calls on Government to ensure that all of
Dublin – not just the City Council area – is
represented in the Citizens’ Assembly that
has been promised to discuss proposals for
a directly elected mayor.
Ahead of the 2019 Local Elections, Dublin
Chamber is highlighting the changes
needed to make Dublin liveable, accessible,
resilient, and business-friendly in the years
ahead. We call on all candidates to commit
to support the policies outlined below. We also
encourage our members and their thousands of
staff to raise these issues on the doorsteps
in the weeks ahead.A Liveable Dublin
Planning & Housing
Housing is the number one concern for businesses in Dublin. To
address this, sustainable development must be placed at the heart of
planning. This means embracing urbanisation, and managing it properly
through high-density development, intelligent design, and investment in
urban infrastructure.
Unsustainable low-density development is a major cause of housing,
transport, and environmental problems. It chokes off housing supply in
the places where people want to live, and encourages urban sprawl and
longer commuting times. It undermines the viability of public transport
and infrastructure investments, and contributes to carbon emissions.
Dublin needs Councillors who will:
Dublin Chamber supports the National Planning Framework (NPF) in
which the priority is compact growth. To achieve this, 50% of all future
population and jobs growth must take place within the existing ‘footprint’ Set ambitious infill targets to regenerate under-utilised brownfield, vacant
of cities and their suburbs. The population of Dublin City and its suburbs and public lands.
is set to grow by 20-25% to 1.41m people by 2040. But residential Prioritise the redevelopment of low-to-medium density residential areas to
output remains far below what is required to meet even current demand. accommodate increased density.
There are 122 sites in Dublin listed on the Vacant Sites Register.1 The Work to relocate less population-intensive uses of land outside of the M50.
NPF identified the Docklands as a case study in best practice place-
making and brownfield urban regeneration. This should be replicated Track the progress of planning applications for strategic development areas,
appropriately across different areas of the city, utilising these vacant identifying and resolving barriers to development.
sites. With the NPF in place, Dublin can shift towards a model of
high-density residential development and joined-up thinking between Support greater building heights in appropriate areas of Dublin.
housing and public transport. But it needs Councillors with the vision to Invest in the public realm to create pedestrian-friendly urban spaces.
implement this on a local level.
Access EU Structural Funds to support urban regeneration.
Lobby to improve the Vacant Site Levy legislation.
Ensure that new developments are planned with the appropriate mix of
amenities, commercial presence and housing units of varying size.
1
Accessed April 17, 2019.
Support the additional health, educational, social and recreational facilities
http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/Planning/Documents/VacantSitesRegister.pdf
https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/planning/vacant-sites/vacant-site-register.xlsx needed to serve Dublin’s additional residents.
https://www.dlrcoco.ie/sites/default/files/atoms/files/vacant_site_register_1.pdf
http://www.fingalcoco.ie/media/Fingal%20Vacant%20Site%20Register%20Dec%202018%20
with%20links.pdfAn Accessible Dublin Dublin needs Councillors who will:
Transport Support MetroLink and ensure the earliest possible delivery.
Support improvements to the bus network and engage constructively to
ensure the implementation of BusConnects.
Dublin now ranks among the most traffic-congested cities in the Commit to the Dublin Cycling Strategy and fund its implementation.
world, with an average of almost 250 hours lost per driver annually.2
By a conservative estimate, traffic congestion in the Dublin region Roll out the successful dublinbikes scheme across all of Dublin.
costs the Irish economy an estimated €350 million per annum, rising
to €2 billion per annum by 2033.3 Embrace the potential of e-scooters and lobby national Government for
appropriate regulations to be put in place.
A combination of low-density development, unsafe or non-existent
cycling infrastructure, and inadequate public transport means that Prioritise sustainable modes of transport and increasing mixed use
many people have no choice but to travel to work by car. As traffic development along key transport routes.
worsens, it leads to ever longer commuting times, undermining both
business productivity and quality of life. Work to establish a timeline for the DART Expansion programme.
There is clear demand for more sustainable modes of transport.
A shift is already taking place; the 2017 Cordon Count indicates
that over 70% of people travelling to the city centre each day
use sustainable modes. Walking and cycling numbers continue
to increase while bus transport now accounts for almost 29% of
modal share.4 Luas passenger numbers also continue to grow as
Luas Cross City recently exceeded 10 million passengers for the
second consecutive quarter.5 All this proves that it pays to invest in
sustainable transport infrastructure.
The business community strongly supports public transport
investment and the promotion of cycling. Almost 100 members of
the Chamber have signed up to a joint campaign with CyclingWorks
Dublin to call for increased funding for cycling infrastructure in the city.
Dublin should also embrace new technologies that offer ways of
reducing carbon emissions and traffic congestion. For example
e-scooters have proliferated across cities worldwide and are
becoming increasingly popular in Dublin, despite the legal grey area
around their use. Dublin should not treat this technology as a problem
to be prevented, but as an opportunity to be embraced.
2
INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard 2018, http://inrix.com/scorecard/
3
Dáil Question No: 346, John Lahart TD. Ref No: 1857/17, Proof 348, Answered by the Minister for
Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross TD.
4
http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/development_plan/CDP1622_2YrProgReport.pdf
5
https://issuu.com/256media/docs/dem_-_feb_2019?e=16581915/67588868A Business-Friendly Dublin Dublin needs Councillors who will:
Sound Finances Freeze commercial rates for the next 5 years.
Adopt a more balanced approach to revenue generation by reducing the
proportion of Local Authority income accounted for by commercial rates.
The business community provides the single largest income source Keep any LPT variation to a modest level, and use the additional revenue
for Local Authorities nationally, with commercial rates contributing to tangibly improve Dublin’s local infrastructure, services, cleanliness, and
approximately one third of current income, or almost €1.5bn per annum.6 quality of life.
In Dublin however, commercial rates represent an even larger proportion.
In South Dublin County Council, for example, business rates represent Support calls for all LPT raised in Dublin to be retained and reinvested locally.
over 52% of total income, while Local Property Tax (LPT) accounted
for just 2.3%.7 Other Local Authorities’ budgets reveal a similar disparity Consider decreasing the Vacancy Allowance for commercial rates and use
between commercial rates and LPT. the subsequent income to reduce Commercial Rates.
Dublin’s Local Authorities are over-reliant on commercial rates revenue Adjust LPT and Commercial Rates appropriately to reflect the contribution of
as a means of balancing accounts. The way in which the LPT rate has both property and business owners and the level of services utilised by both.
been varied since January 2015 is indicative, with three out of four Local
Authorities in the Dublin Region choosing to reduce LPT by the full 15%
permitted last year, while no concomitant reduction in the rates burden
was announced.8 The business community believes that this owes
more to electoral concerns than to concern for the social and economic
environment in Dublin.
There is a clear need for more local investment in Dublin. With businesses
already heavily relied upon, LPT is a more stable revenue stream that
should be used to improve urban services while being prudent in relation
to household impact.9 A full 15% reduction in the 2020 fiscal year would
represent an excessive and one-sided relinquishment of public funds at
a time of population growth and pressure on Dublin’s resources.
When offices/premises are vacant Local Authorities have the power to set
a Vacancy Allowance to reduce the level of business rates due. However,
with office vacancy rates in Dublin at their lowest level in 10 years, Local
Authorities should now strive to open up more office space.10
6
https://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/finance/local-government-rates-bill-2018-minister-
phelans-second-stage-speech-dail
7
2018 Figures. http://localauthorityfinances.com/income/30/
8
Fingal County Council was the exception, reducing LPT by 10%.
9
https://consultation.dublincity.ie/finance/lpt-ir-2019/supporting_documents/04%20%20Report%20
of%20the%20Parlimentary%20Budget%20Office.pdf
10
https://issuu.com/256media/docs/dem_-_feb_2019?e=16581915/67588868An Enterprising Dublin Questions to ask your local candidates
SME Supports
The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) structure has been in place for over 5
years and in that time has created 18,640 net jobs, trained over 140,000
people, and distributed €81.5million of direct financial assistance to small
business and entrepreneurs.11 While the current structure is working, there
is more that can be done at a local level to support entrepreneurship and
SME growth.
How will you accommodate Dublin’s growing
The UK is the most important export market for Ireland’s SME sector and, population in a sustainable way?
with political uncertainty continuing in Britain, it is vital that SMEs in Dublin
are supported and encouraged to grow and diversify into new markets on How will you ensure that new housing is linked
the continent and further afield. up with public transport?
The European Commission has recommended that Ireland take steps
to improve ICT infrastructure, digital technologies and the ICT skills of
Will you support the key infrastructure
workers in order to better grow and develop business.12 projects that Dublin needs, such as MetroLink,
BusConnects, DART Expansion?
Will you fund the roll out of cycling
Dublin needs Councillors who will:
infrastructure and the dublinbikes scheme
across Dublin?
Work with LEOs to ensure that SMEs are being supported effectively.
Will you support the use of new technologies
Commit to developing and improving ICT infrastructure in Dublin. like e-scooters?
Ensure that there are adequate resources for appropriate business Will you freeze commercial rates for the next
training courses, particularly in regards to the ICT sector. 5 years?
Be alert to upcoming business issues and adjust training and Will you cut Local Property Tax or use the
supports to meet the challenges ahead. revenue to improve local infrastructure and
services?
Support inward investment and promote the business potential of
their areas.
What will you do to support entrepreneurs
and local enterprises?
11
https://dbei.gov.ie/en/News-And-Events/Department-News/2019/April/17042019a.html
12
https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/32581/attachments/15/translations/en/renditions/native#betterdublin
Dublin Chamber of Commerce
7 Clare Street
Dublin 2
www.dublinchamber.ie
info@dublinchamber.ie
00 353 1 644 7200
Dublin is Our Business
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