My motion at Mondays (27th Nov) full Council Meeting ‘That the council follow the lead of other county councils around the country who have enhanced the transparency and accountability of their councils while protecting against misrepresentations of what happens in the chamber and introduce either streaming or transcription of council meetings.

Here is the report issued by: Mr T McDonnell, Director of Service, Housing and Corporate Services
This council resolved in January 2016 to explore options for cost effective recording in the chamber for public meetings and to refer the matter to the protocol committee for consideration. This was on foot of a motion table by Councillor McLoughlin Healy on 25 January 2016.

The Protocol Committee considered the matter at their meeting on 21 March 2016 and resolved “that Councillor McLoughlin Healy will work with Mr Bernard Higgins, Head of Information Systems, on further exploring options for cost effective recording in the chamber for public meetings”.

In response to two previous motions tabled in 2014 (which were defeated in the chamber), Mr Higgins prepared a detailed report including estimated costings for streaming council meetings. Earlier this year he provided an updated estimate of costs and detailed specification to Councillor McLoughlin Healy and discussed the various options with her. The matter of streaming of council meetings is still with the Protocol Committee who await the outcome of the work that Councillor McLoughlin Healy and Mr Higgins were to undertake.

In relation to misrepresentation of what happens in the chamber, the minutes of meetings, which are adopted by the members, are the official record of decisions taken.