It was hugely disappointing that the Government failed to include any capital spending for the Grangegorman Development in their 2012-2016 Capital programme. The capital required is only €80million and it would have led to the redevelopment of the 70 acre campus, 1000s of jobs and a worldclass Education, Health and Community Facilities. As it is the DIT currently spend €3m a year on rent for buildings around the city, this money should be saved and can be saved if the Government commit to free-up even a small amount of capital to facilitate DITs transfer to the campus. It is estimated that even as small an amount as €20million can get the project back on track. At the December meeting of the Central Area Committee I put forward the following motion that “The elected members of the Central Area Committee call on the Government to re-confirm its commitment to the Grangegorman Development and to make available funds to ensure Phase 1 of the campus is completed by 2016.”

Revenue Raising Powers for Dublin City
Government confirmed their support for legislation that would allow local authorities charge a small visitors tax if they wished to do so. Dublin welcomes millions of visitors each year. Tourism is vital to our economy, but it also places added pressure on city services — street cleaning, waste collection, public


