My second question at March (20th) Municipal District meeting; ‘Can the council outline any progress in terms of its investigation of how the Water Tower could be demolished and removed in Newbridge?
Here is the report issued by: Mr J Boland, District Manager: The council’s consulting engineers, Donnachadh O’Brien and associates, have been engaged to carry out a structural assessment of the Water Tower. An update should be available for the April meeting of the municipal district.
My first motion at March (20th) Municipal District meeting; ‘ That the council review and explain the early recommendation of the Curragh Forum that bye-laws be used to address some of the ongoing issues on the Curragh Plains.
Here is the Report Issued by: Mr J Boland, District Manager: The District Manager is scheduled to meet with the Department of Defence on Friday 15 March to discuss all issues raised by the elected members and, in particular , the Curragh plains initiative. The members will be briefed at the next municipal district meeting.’
My first question at March (20th) Municipal District meeting; ‘Can the council outline the timeline and funding sources for each stage of the National Transport Authority traffic management plan and for the development of a new cultural quarter in Newbridge; specifically identifying the source of the €6.3 million for the cultural quarter and the extent of the development that this funding will cover, in light of the estimated €8 million cost of redevelopment of the library alone?
Here is the report issued by: Ms M Hunt, Senior Executive Officer, Economic, Community and Cultural Development: As set out in the Cat B application to the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, which was also circulated to the municipal district members, the total estimated cost of the Newbridge Cultural Quarter is €20,000,000. This proposal includes the redevelopment of the Library, Market Square, and some public realm works from Georges Street to the Town Hall and redevelopment of the area currently being used as a car park between the Town Hall and St Conleths Park. However, a more accurate costing for this project can only be ascertained once required Part 8 approvals are in place and detailed designs have been drawn up. These detailed designs can then be submitted to the URDF for Cat A “shovel ready funding” for the actual construction of the various elements of the proposed Cultural Quarter.
The National Transport Authority draft Newbridge Transport Plan is a separate project to that of the Cultural Quarter project, however both projects are complimentary. The NTA draft Transport Plan is estimated to cost in the region of €10,000,000. The full cost of this project, and sources of funding can only be ascertained once analyses of key junctions have been completed and detailed designs are drawn up.
To: Mayor and Members of Kildare County Council and Oireachtas Members
Date: March 8th, 2019
Issued by: Niall Morrissey, Director of Services
Re: Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and Technical Training for the Engineers and Technicians of the Transportation and Road Design Department _________________________________________________________________________ “In September 2018 the Managing Director of Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers issued Kildare County Council with an invitation to visit their upgraded Bitumen Emulsion production facility/Materials Testing Laboratories at Alexandra Road, Dublin Port, as part of Continuing Professional Development, (CPD), and Technical Training for the Engineers and Technicians of the Transportation and Road Design Department.
Engineers Ireland have represented the Engineering Profession since 1835 and have as one of their core responsibilities the provision of opportunities for Continuing Professional Development for engineers.
Engineers Ireland make it quite clear that the primary purpose of CPD must be educational. Engineers Ireland makes a clear distinction between educational and marketing activities. The decision on whether an activity is primarily educational and relevant or primarily promotional rests solely with Engineers Ireland. Applications are welcomed by Engineers Ireland from any organisation offering learning opportunities to help engineers in their professional development, and as a result Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers are one of over 130 Registered Training Providers.
The Roads Section of Kildare County Council are currently managing in excess of 38 major projects in addition to a large number of minor projects located throughout the County. Due to this workload which includes the ongoing necessity to achieve deadlines and milestones, it proved very difficult to agree an appropriate date for the CPD visit to Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers. Finally it was acknowledged that it was imperative that the KCC employees involved should be afforded the opportunity to avail of the CPD hours on offer and assist them to achieve the obligatory 35 hours CPD required each year. Therefore the date for the visit was agreed for 5th February.
In regard to the logistics of transporting employees who reside in various locations both within and outside the County to the location in Dublin Port, an instruction was issued that a bus would be used to transport employees, thereby reducing the cost of the trip.
As the group were travelling to Dublin City for the Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers visit, a decision was taken to maximise both the employee’s time and transport cost by including another educational visit in Dublin City. After a number of options were discussed it was decided that a visit to Leinster House would best meet the needs of the group i.e. although our employees have some interaction with Leinster House as part of their responsibilities as employee’s of Kildare County Council, very few have ever had the opportunity to visit Dáil Éireann.
Leinster House was contacted to book a tour and it was advised that an Oireachtas Member would be required to officially sign in the group. Consequently Frank O’ Rourke T.D. was contacted and requested to facilitate the visit by the KCC group.
Once the KCC group arrived at Leinster House they were met by an Usher at the entrance gates and were provided with a tour of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and other areas. Once the tour was completed the Usher suggested to the KCC group that they wait for their bus in 2 the Oireachtas Bar, a similar practice availed of by the vast majority of groups that participate in similar tours. The group purchased their own refreshments while waiting on their bus and before any Oireachtas members arrived. It is important to note that this element of the trip was after 4pm and outside core hours of work. They were eventually joined by a number of the Kildare Oireachtas members; again a normal practice when groups visit Leinster House. Once the bus arrived the group departed. The Group were waiting for the bus for 50/60 minutes in total.
A number of issues have been raised by various individuals and I respond as follows:
All goods and services purchased by Kildare County Council are subject to Public Procurement rules and guidelines and KCC’s Annual Financial Statement is audited annually by the Local Government Auditor and on a continual basis by an Internal Auditor. The CPD visit to Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers was as outlined earlier strictly for educational purposes and any suggestions otherwise may be forwarded to our legal advisors by KCC
The annual procurement of bitumen for all Local Authorities is organised by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) via www.SupplyGov.ie
KCC endeavour to treat all individuals elected to represent the citizens of Kildare equally and therefore we strive to provide information on an equal basis to our Councillors and Oireachtas members; both of whom have a mandate to represent people residing in our County
The Local Government Act 2001 Code of Conduct for Employees (2007) is the ethical framework which KCC staff are required to adhere to in performing their duties. The Code contents includes General Conduct and Behaviour, Conflict of Personal and Public Interest, Gifts and other issues. The issue of hospitality is addressed in Section 6 of the Code. Section 6.2 states that ‘it is accepted, however, that local government employees should not be in a position where they cannot accept what are regarded as normal courtesies’ and ‘no objection would normally be taken to the acceptance of what is regarded as routine or customary hospitality’.
CPD is defined as “the systematic maintenance, enhancement and development of knowledge and skill, and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout the practicing engineering professionals career”.The Engineers Ireland CPD Guidelines states “It can’t be CPD if it is your usual work routine and you learned nothing. Work activities can only be counted if you can justify that they are non-routine and contribute to your development as an engineering professional”.
The visit to Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers took place between 10.30am and 2.15pm. The visit to Leinster House lasted for 2 hours
There was no necessity to inform the Kildare Oireachtas members in regard to the visit to Leinster House as it was not an official visit. It would have been unfair to interrupt Oireachtas members busy schedules by requesting their presence to meet the KCC group.
The total cost of the day was €450 (Mini bus hire) 3
Both the visit to Irish Tar & Bitumen Suppliers and Leinster House are allowable as CPD hours
The visits were considered and approved by Senior Management in the Roads Section, none of whom would be participating on the CPD visits
The quantity of engineering activity managed by Kildare County Council Roads Section is substantial and it is crucial that our engineering employees avail of all training and continual development opportunities to ensure that our knowledge and practice are up to date at all times. It would be unfair to our citizens and visitors to Kildare if the quality of service provided by our employees was sub-standard to that provided by our colleagues in other local authorities.
In addition it is a challenge for the organisation to recruit and retain engineering employees. The encouragement of, and support for, the CPD process is an intrinsic element in decisions being taken by individuals when deciding to take up posts with KCC.
It is important to note that as we strive in KCC to improve our professionalism in how we serve the people of Kildare, the Roads Engineering employees applied for and secured Engineers Ireland CPD Accredited Employer Status. The work involved in achieving this noteworthy accreditation was carried out separately to their KCC duties.”
My second motion at February (20th) Municipal District meeting; ‘That the council outline any viable short-term and/or long term solutions to improving safety and visibility of oncoming traffic for residents emerging from residential driveways along Morristown Biller near the bridge.
Report issued by Mr B Martin, Administrative Officer, Roads, Transportation and Public Safety Department: A survey and design would be required to be carried out at the location in relation to the requested works; this would have to be done in conjunction with the Roads Design Team. As part of the process a topographical survey, traffic count and speed survey is required to be carried out. The council will carry out the survey and design works once technical resources become available.
My second question at February (20th) Municipal District meeting; ‘Can the council circulate to councillors the annual reports provided by Town Twinning Committees to the council as part of the council’s statutory oversight of Twinning Committees, that it approves and funds in this municipal district?
Report issued by: Mr J Shannon, Administrative Officer, Economic Community & Cultural Development : As the members are aware the newly established Twinning Liaison Committee has been put in place to create policies and procedures for twinning groups and twinning related activities. To date, twinning groups have submitted a work programme for the year ahead as the basis for the drawdown of the twinning grant. One of the first objectives of the Twinning Liaison Committee is to create end of year reporting templates for twinning groups to use. The council will then collate all of the information and provide a summary report in the council’s Annual Report.
My first question at February (20th) Municipal District meeting; ‘Can the council provide an update as to what if any work has been undertaken or progress made on the plan to sell the machinery yard which continues to take up valuable space in the centre of Newbridge town, including what if any obstacle or change or mind has arisen to delay the sale which was touted more than 2 years ago?
Report issued by Mr B Martin, Administrative Officer, Roads, Transportation and Public Safety Department: The current base for machinery yard and salting operations for Kildare County Council needs to be transferred to a new location to facilitate the sale of the current site in Newbridge Town. The Part 8 process in respect to the new machinery yard and salting operations facility will be published for public consultation in the coming weeks.
My first motion at February (20th) Municipal District meeting, ‘That the council clarify the confusion around the consultation that was reportedly had with local residents of Kilmeague in advance of the agreement to lift the cobblestones in the village.
Report issued by Mr B Martin, Administrative Officer, Roads, Transportation and Public Safety Department: From the council’s viewpoint there was no confusion, these works were requested and funded by the public representatives under LPT funding. There is a trail of emails from previous municipal district engineers discussing same with the public representations , requesting feedback and suggesting discussion on site , no issues were flagged back then , and while the cobbles were raised in general it was agreed that the only safe method was the removal of same with a view to reusing them in some way.
The footpaths were determined to be no-longer fit for purpose as there are a number of potholes, uneven chambers backfilled with concrete, and some sections of the footpath were already replaced with brick paving. The decision to upgrade the footpath was based on historic complaints by those with mobility challenges and difficulties arising for parents using wheeled buggies/prams etc. Following discussions with the council’s Heritage Officer it was agreed that in order to bring the footpath up to an acceptable standard, the reuse of the old cobble stones was not feasible as the main footpath surface.
The contract was awarded to Harbour View, they carried out a leaflet drop on Monday 28 January advising that works would commence on Tuesday, the leaflet drop was only to the directly affected house owners. Work commenced on Tuesday, it was Friday before it became apparent that a small number of locals had an issue and the council were advised of a public meeting being held on the Saturday.
Council officials went to the site first thing Monday morning to meet the group, discussed our plans, advised that the council were happy to facilitate them in relation to reusing the stones as a feature, but could not reuse them in the footpath in a safe manner. They again called a meeting for that evening to discuss our proposals. The council suspended works that day, which remain suspended at a cost to the tax payer.
Annex C -The Ministerial Direction to the KWETB October 4th 2018 (page 95-98)
Submission by the Chair of the Audit Committee to the draft Thorn report( pages 57-58)