A TASKFORCE SET up by Simon Harris shortly after he became Taoiseach in April of this year has today published its report on improving life in Dublin.

Chaired by An Post CEO David McRedmond, the taskforce set out a range of recommendations to improve the capital city under 10 key “big move” areas including housing, policing, transport and marketing.

McRedmond acknowledged that most of the recommendations have previously been made to government but have either not yet been implemented or are “sub-scale”.

Harris said he hopes all political parties and independents will adopt the recommendations of the taskforce into their manifestos ahead of the next election. 

In terms of funding the changes set out, the taskforce didn’t make any specific recommendations, it did however say that things like congestion charges or a tourism tax could be looked at. 

However, speaking at the launch today, Harris said he was against the idea of a congestion charge but that a tourism tax “merits some consideration”. 

Housing and Local Government Minister Darragh O’Brien on the other hand, said he is opposed to both taxes and does not believe now is the right time to increase costs associated with hospitality. 

Here are ten of the recommendations that caught our eye: 

1. Fund a minimum of 1,000 additional gardaí for Dublin city over the next three years

The report acknowledges that crime statistics do not show that Dublin is an outlier for crime among peer cities, but that this does not show “the full picture” and that anti-social behaviour falls “outside of crime definitions”.

The taskforce takes the view that more visible security in the city centre is “essential”.

It also recommends greater investment in youth diversion projects.

2. Set up a housing grant system for essential workers

The taskforce recommends that a grant system be established whereby public sector employers like the HSE, An Garda Síochána, schools and Dublin City Council receive additional funding to purchase or lease homes for their employees in the city centre.

3. Make O’Connell Street a place to live

The Taskforce said it shares Dublin City Council’s vision to make O’Connell Street “the physical and emotional heart of our city and State”.

To get to this point it recommends redeveloping the area to make it more mixed used.

Key to this is it said is State purchasing of vacant or derelict sites for redevelopment as high density, high quality housing on O’Connell Street and streets adjoining to it. 

4. Increase drug treatment services

Among the taskforce’s recommendations is to develop mobile supervised drug consumption services as part of an agreed response to street-based drug use.

In its report, the taskforce said safety is a major concern for people in the city and that visible drug taking and dealing is contributing to this.

It noted that the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on drug use could significantly reduce antisocial behaviour in the city centre by shifting the focus from criminalisation to a health-led approach.

5. Review the location of the International Protection Office

The taskforce said consideration should be given to the relocation of International Protection Office processing facilities and that integrating it with healthcare services should also be considered.

It noted that Dublin is a primary entry point for many international protection applicants and that “concentration of vulnerable and transient cohorts risks social exclusion and exacerbation of social problems”. 

6. Repurpose major carparks

The taskforce recommends that this should be done to facilitate “more pedestrian movement”.

It said they could be repurposed as cycle parking, logistic hubs or “other uses”.

7. Double the number of 24-hour bus routes

The taskforce recommends that a major increase in night-time transport is needed.

Along with doubling the number of 24-hour bus routes it also recommends incentivising more late-night taxis through higher late night fares.

8. A marketing team for the city

The taskforce wants to see the creation of a high-level marketing team to manage “the brand of Dublin”.

It said this is in response to the “deeply negative” narrative that has developed around Dublin, with social media “full” of misinformation about violence, hostility and heavy littering.

It said the marketing team would be responsible for communicating about things like events  and cultural activities to essential services and infrastructural projects.

9. New laws about recording gardaí

It recommends that the government enact legislation to prohibit social media platforms from facilitating the circulation of videos, images or live streaming of members of the gardaí while they are working, without their consent. 

10. Overhaul of waste collection

The taskforce recommends that all waste collection in the city be transferred to one single operator. 

Although it said that an immediate return to public waste management would be “unfeasible”, moving to re-municipalisation of waste management on a phased basis should be “considered in the long term”.