€31.8 Billion in tax nationally – €16.8 Billion in tax from Dublin

Revenue figures for 2002 to 2008 provided to Fine Gael Front Bench Spokesman, Leo Varadkar TD show that Dublin pays more than half of all the tax paid in the country despite accounting for only one quarter of the population.

Commenting on the figures, Leo Varadkar TD said that the figures show that Dublin is the ‘powerhouse’ of the Irish economy, that Dublin may not be getting its ‘fair share’ and that a geographical analysis of tax collection and public spending in Ireland and how it relates to population, wealth and social need is needed.

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.

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Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, Leo Varadkar, has given a guarded welcome to plans from Dublin Bus to re-organise the bus routes around Dublin 15. The changes are planned for implementation in July and form part of Dublin Bus’ cost-cutting and rationalisation plan.

Among the changes are:

• The 37 bus will now terminate at Wilton Terrace providing a direct bus service from Clonsilla, Carpenterstown and Castleknock through town to St Stephens Green and the Luas;
• The 70 bus will serve Dunboyne and Clonee and will travel straight down the N3 without going into Blanchardstown Centre and the Village;
• The various 39 bus routes will be merged in to two routes one will be more direct and other more frequent but more circuitous;
• The badly served area around Latchford and Manorfields will now be on the 39 bus route; and
• The 39 and 70 will cross town terminating at Wilton Terrace

All 38 buses will serve Castlecurragh (they won’t go through Mulhuddart Village anymore) and will run as far as UCD

There will be greater use of existing bus lanes and less routes and roads that have no bus lanes
Bus services will run seven days a week

‘The new bus route map and timetable will be welcomed by many commuters in Dublin 15 especially those who work in the southern part of the city around St Stephen’s Green, Merrion Square and the Grand Canal. . Residents of Clonee will welcome a more direct bus service to town but won’t be happy that they are being cut off from the Blanchardstown Centre. Some people are definitely going to have to work farther to catch the bus that they want.’

‘It seems that Dublin 15 is avoiding most of the cuts to services in other parts of the city but it is hard to see how a better service can be provided with ninety fewer buses in operation across the city. I believe the time has come to allow private operators to take over some of the routes currently controlled by Dublin Bus. This would allow Dublin Bus to provide a better and more frequent service on the routes they retain. It’s a shame to see so many buses, public and private, not been used. I would still like to see the 37 terminate at the Blanchardstown Centre in order provide a direct bus service to the Centre for residents of Castleknock and Carpenterstown’

Fine Gael representatives Leo Varadkar and Eithne Loftus have welcomed a major change of heart by council officials on their draft plan for the future development Blanchardstown Village, the Blanchardstown Urban Design Framework Plan. The plan will be submitted to councillors next Monday for approval but council officials will propose major amendments to the draft on the night following a Fine Gael campaign and intensive lobbying from local residents.

Among the changes being proposed by the council official are the following:

 

• The council has abandoned its proposal for a pedestrian access through Summerfield and Springlawn estates due to ‘residents objections which render it non-viable’.
• Retention of the Tennis Courts at Hazel Lawn as an amenity even if Supequinn is re-developed.
• Abandonment of a proposal for a 5-6 storey ‘landmark’ building on the site of the Bell.
• A professional traffic management study to be done prior to the provision of new bus lanes or elimination of on-street parking.

‘The Urban Design Framework plan for Blanchardstown is a good idea. We have had too much piecemeal and developer-led planning in Blanchardstown. But it is important to get the plan right. With this in mind, Fine Gael was very active on the issue. We organised a leaflet drop to inform residents of the plans, hosted a public meeting and Cllr Loftus and Cllr Dennison succeeded in getting the deadline for observations extended to give residents more time to make their views known. While the officials in the council have not taken on board all of the changes we proposed, they have responded favourably to most of the main changes that residents asked for’, said Deputy Varadkar

‘Over 130 residents made a submission to the council on the Blanchardstown Urban Design Framework. It was a genuine exercise in local democracy. I will be seeking more changes to the draft but I very much welcome the council’s change of heart on the proposals for high-rise at the Bell and pedestrian access through Summerfield and Springlawn which have been cul-de-sac estates since they were built’ added Cllr Loftus.

Related Document: Council Document responding to the submission made by members of the public

A proposal by Dublin 15, Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar that the vacant lands at the Abbotstown Sports Campus be provided for allotments has been rejected by the Minister for Sport, Martin Cullen (FF).

According to Deputy Varadkar “The start of building work at the Abbotstown sports campus is a significant number of years away and is unlikely to be completed within the decade. In the interim there is a large green belt of land in the area which is lying vacant and unused. Allowing this land to be used as allotments would have been a non-intrusive and productive use of the land which would have been of great benefit to the nearby residents.” …[more]

There was a 60% increase in burglaries during the year to November according to the most recent crime statistics produced by the gardaí (attached). 556 burglaries were reported to the Gardaí in Blanchardstown in the period of January to November 2009. That’s up from 348 in the same period in 2008. The figures also show a fall in public order offences and assaults with an increase in drugs seizures.

‘These statistics are confirmation of anecdotal evidence of a big increase in burglaries in Dublin 15 over the past year. Burglaries tend to increase during recessions as people lose their jobs and incomes fall. I am sure that these figures underestimate the real number of burglaries in the area as many go unreported. It is very important that people report crimes to the gardaí. If crimes are not reported, it is much harder to make a case for more resources. Individuals must make every effort they can to secure their own homes with alarms and security devices, by joining neighbourhood watch schemes and reporting suspicious activity in their area. Help is available to elderly to acquire low cost security devices’, said Deputy Varadkar

Fingal County Council will be setting an example for the whole country if it approves a proposal to cut business rates and water charges at its Annual Budget meeting on January 7th according to Leo Varadkar TD, Fine Gael Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment and local representative for the Dublin West constituency.

“Councillors will vote on a proposal from the County Manager to reduce business rates by 10.5% and water charges by 6%.  The proposal to cut local authority rates was first made by Cllr Kieran Dennison of Fine Gael who argued that rates should be cut in line with deflation.  When the recent revaluation of properties is taken into account, the County Manager is now proposing to do exactly that and will provide a €8 million boost to businesses throughout Dublin 15 and North County Dublin.

“Fingal County Council will be setting an example for the nation by cutting business rates and water charges.  Protecting jobs must be our number one priority and the best way to do this is to support private sector enterprises which provide 70% of all employment in the state.  By cutting rates and water charges, the council will be sending a clear signal to central government, the banks, landlords and semi-states and will put more pressure on them to reduce their prices and charges too.”

Fingal County Council has agreed to extend the deadline for submissions on the Blanchardstown Village Masterplan to January 15th from Thursday, December 17th. The request to extend the deadline was made by residents who attended a public meeting organized by Fine Gael to discuss the contents of the draft masterplan for the village. Meeting was held on Monday and was attended by over forty residents. The masterplan is not a planning application, it is a blueprint for how the village should develop over time.

‘The idea of a masterplan for future development in Blanchardstown has been broadly welcomed by residents. However, there were strong objections at the meeting to proposals for five storey buildings at prominent sites in the village. Residents want to maintain the low to medium rise aspect of the historic village. There were also very strong objections to the council’s proposals to create more pedestrian linkages between the Blanchardstown Centre and the Village by providing a pedestrian bridge linking the centre to the village and by creating walkways through Summerfield and Springlawn’, said Deputy Varadkar.

Cllr Eithne Loftus and Cllr Kieran Dennison will push these changes when the council considers the masterplan in the New Year.

The 37 bus terminus on the Diswellstown road will be moved to Power City on the Blanchardstown Road South. The move will be welcomed by residents of the Luttrellstown and Riverwood areas who have been concerned for many years about the traffic hazard caused by parked buses on the Diswellstown Road terminus where there is no bus bay. It will also provide a better bus service between Castleknock and the Clonsilla and Moutview areas.

‘We have been calling for a new 37 bus terminus for years due to safety concerns about buses parked on Diswellstown Road. Responsibility for bus stops and terminuses rests with Dublin Bus and there have been many proposals to move the terminus in the past. By taking this initiative the council have responded to the local community and it’s hoped to have the terminus moved in time for Christmas subject to the co-operation of Dublin Bus.’

The current terminus is on the Diswellstown road where buses simply park along the road forcing traffic to overtake on a dangerous stretch of carriageway. A request in May 2008 by Dublin Bus to move the terminus to the Blanchardstown Centre failed to get approval from the Minister of Transport because of government policies which ban competition on bus routes. Dublin Bus was invited to apply again but no application was received.

The work on the Blanchardstown Road South will involve changing the road markings to allow a bus lane alongside Power City between the Ongar Road and the Clonsilla Road roundabouts with bus stops on either side of the road.

Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, Leo Varadkar, has slammed Fingal County Council for deciding to end the practice of giving free bin tags to low-income families and social welfare recipients.  At the moment, eleven thousand households in Fingal qualify for a waiver from bin charges.  This means that they do not have to pay the annual charge of €110 and that they get a number of bin tags free every year depending on the size of their household.  Under plans announced by the County Manager, these households will now have to buy bin tags.  They will still be exempt from having to pay the annual charge.  The change will come into effect from January 1st, 2010.

‘I am very angry at the County Manager’s decision to take the free bin tags away from the poor and the old.  With cuts in social welfare to come in the budget, the poor and old are going to be hit with a double-whammy from the government and council over Christmas and the New Year.  The council is controlled by Labour and the Socialist Party, I do not want to see them pointing the fingers at Fianna Fail and the Greens in central government.  In the local elections, they promised that this would not happen.  They control the council and are responsible for adopting the council’s annual budget, it is their job now to come with alternative savings in the council’s budget to make sure that this does not happen’

Public Meeting on Uxbridge Development

More than one hundred people attended a public meeting organized by Fine Gael to discuss new plans to redevelop Castleknock Village.  The developers, the Uxbridge Consortium, propose to build a development of four blocks rising to a height of five storeys on a backland site of less than one hectare in Castleknock Village.  The proposed development will include a large shopping centre, fifteen retail units, a pedestrian plaza, a small café, medical centre, offices and almost fifty apartments over a double-basement car park for more than three hundred cars.  The development is broadly similar to one proposed by the same consortium last year.

‘Cllr Eithne Loftus and I were encouraged that more than one hundred people turned up for the meeting in the middle of July.  It’s heartening to know that so many people care about the future of our neighborhood’, said Deputy Varadkar.

The meeting voted unanimously to oppose the planning application.

‘While we do not object to an appropriate development that would enhance the core of the village, we are very much opposed to this proposal which really belongs in the city centre not in a suburban village.  The proposed development is too big and too high.  It will further worsen traffic in the already congested village and will turn neighbouring estates into car parks.  This development offers no community gain.