The new taskforce for Dublin City Centre must prioritise safety, cleanliness and liveability if it is to give our city centre the meaningful change it needs. You can find Mary’s list of recommendations for the taskforce below.
If it implements these recommendations, there is a real possibility the taskforce will change our city centre for the better and ensure it reaches its full potential of being a thriving location to live, work, do business and visit
Safe Streets
- Dedicated small area policing by community Gardaí.
- Zero tolerance to use of public domain and flat complexes for drug dealing and other anti-social & criminal behaviour by Dublin City Council (DCC) Estate Management.
- Targeted approach from Gardaí, DCC Estate Management, Area Management and justice diversion programmes.
- Identify juveniles involved in drug dealing, where they live, their housing provider and engage with parents, family support and justice youth diversion programmes.
- Community service and restorative justice for those prosecuted.
- Dedicated Gardaí deployed to our public transport, DART, Bus and Luas.
- 24/7 criminal District Court.
Clean Streets
- Proactive management of public spaces.
- Assign Public Domain Officers to specific areas in the City Centre who report daily on the number and location of tents, illegal dumping, drug dealing, dangerous dogs without a lead and/or muzzle and people begging.
- €1,000 fines for dangerous dog breeds in public spaces without a lead and/or muzzle.
- Daily waste collection followed by street sweeping.
- Evening waste collection for commercial premises.
- Sealed large volume public street waste collection bins.
- Accelerate DCC regeneration projects: The Fruit & Vegetable Market, City Library, Moore Street National Monument, Ambassador Cinema, and flat complexes on west side of Dominick Street Lower, St Mary’s Place, Constitution Hill & Matt Talbot Court
- DCC should identify vacant and derelict properties in private ownership, apply vacant property tax and include in the vacant & derelict site registers.
More Liveable City
- Dedicated unit within the Department of Housing to accelerate the delivery of Adaptive Reuse and affordable housing.
- The over concentration of homeless emergency accommodation in the Inner City must be undone.
- Fund 31 local authorities to build long term, permanent homes. Using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to accelerate delivery.
- NGO’s and Private Emergency Accommodation (PEA) providers must ensure wrap-around supports during the day and evening so that the users of their accommodation are not reliant on using public spaces during the day for recreation.
- IPO must ensure that anybody applying for asylum must present at a reception centre, otherwise their application should be invalidated.
- Ban on NGO’s providing tent/sleeping bags. Reception centres instead provide accommodation.
- Emergency planning laws which allow for hotels to be turned into International Protection Accommodation should end.
- Planning permission should be automatically granted for applications for permanent long term residential developments in the city that are consistent and comply with the standards set in the City Development Plan.
- 24/7 Public Transport to ensure greater access to the city centre.
The new taskforce announced by the Taoiseach will be chaired by An Post CEO David McRemond.
