Sports Capital Grants

The deadline for on-line applications for Sports Capital Grants is June 1st 2012. To get more information or to make an on-line application please click here. Mary

2nd Level Educate Together

There are already three Educate Together Primary Schools in our constituency. In May 2011 the Department of Education gave formal recognition to Educate Together as a Secondary School patron. I am supporting the campaign for a Second Level Educate Together school in the North Dublin City area.
In order to prove to the Department of Education that there is a need for Second level Educate Together School in our area the campaign organisers are looking for "expressions of interest" from potentially interested parents. For more information to support the campaign please click here. Mary

City Manager must release Greyhound contract

As leader of the Fianna Fail group on Dublin City Council I have repeated the Fianna Fail groups request to the Dublin City Manager to release the contract signed between Dublin City Council and the private waste company Greyhound Recycling.

At the request of the Fianna Fail group a special meeting of Dublin City Council was held on 23rd January 2012. At that meeting a motion, proposed by the Fianna Fail group, was passed calling on the City Manager to provide Councillors with the terms of the agreement between DCC and Greyhound Recycling. More than four months have passed, and despite follow-up requests, the City Manager has not provided the Councillors with a copy of the contract. In those four months Dublin City Councils bad debts associated with the service have escalated from €6million to €11million. Greyhound has sold-off the commercial waste collection service to another private operator and we have to assume made some profit in the transaction.

The Fianna Fail group finds this situation unacceptable. It is unacceptable that a significant public asset has been disposed of and there is no record of what payment if any was received. It is unacceptable that unelected officials have access to information that elected representatives do not have access to. It is unacceptable that we are expected to ask people to pay taxes for local services to supposedly fund local services and at the same time part of the business that was generating a significant revenue stream for the City Council has disappeared without trace. The people are not fools and we will not be fobbed-off by the City Manager. The people rightly hold us to account, it is our job to hold the Manager to account.

We referred this deal to the Public Accounts Committee, the Data Protection Commissioner and the Competition Authority. I have written today to the City Manager, on behalf of the Fianna Fail Group, referring him to Section 136 of the Local Government Act 2001, asking him to release the contract and we hope he will accede to our request. Mary

Letter to City Manager


Dear Manager,


I am writing this letter on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Group on Dublin City Council.


As you are no doubt aware, on 23 January 2012 the Fianna Fáil Group called an emergency meeting of Dublin City Council to discuss the City waste collection service that was transferred by the City Council to Greyhound at the beginning of this year. At that meeting a number of motions pertaining to the transfer of the waste collection service to Greyhound was submitted by Fianna Fáil and carried by the Council. One of the motions put and carried was as follows:


"The elected members of Dublin City Council again call on the City Manager to make available to the members the service level agreement and the commercial terms agreed with Greyhound. The Manager should advise what payment Greyhound made to DCC for the business and/or how much DCC is paying Greyhound to fulfil the service." (This motion is recorded at paragraph 8(g) of the minutes of the meeting of 23 January 2012)


To date this information has not been provided by you to the elected members.


Section 136 of the Local Government Act, 2001, provides:


"Without prejudice to Section 105, 135, 137 or 138 a Manager shall, whenever requested -


(a) by an elected Council of a Local Authority for which he or she is the Manager or by its Cathaoirleach, or
(b) by a joint body for which he or she is the Manager, or by its Chairperson,


afford to the Council, Cathaoirleach, Joint Body or Chairperson (as the case may be) all information that may be in the possession or procurement of such Manager in regard to any act, matter or thing relating to or concerning any business or transaction of such Local Authority or body which is mentioned in the request."


The motion that was passed by the City Council on 23 January 2012 was a specific request from the elected Council to you for information on the commercial terms agreed by Dublin City Council with Greyhound. Further, the motion specifically sought information from you as to what payment Greyhound paid to the Council for the business and/or how much the Council is paying Greyhound to fulfil the service.


In accordance with Section 136 of the Local Government Act, 2001 we hereby require you to provide this information to the Council. The request for information was made nearly four months ago and we believe that compliance with Section 136 requires that you furnish all of the information in respect of this matter to the Council immediately.


We look forward to hearing back from you.


Yours sincerely,
Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick
Cllr Paul McAuliffe
Cllr Jim O'Callaghan
Cllr Tom Brabazon
Cllr Julia Carmicheal
Cllr Deirdre Heney


Councillor Mary Fitzpatrick, Fianna Fail Group Leader

Illegal Dumping

Following Dublin City Councils withdrawal from waste collection we have seen a huge increase in litter and illegal dumping in our area. As leader of the Fianna Fail group I strongly opposed DCC's withdrawal from the collection of waste but Labour and Fine Gael control the City Council. I am actively working to try and limit the negative impact of this bad decision on our area and would appreciate if residents can help by reporting any illegal dumping to the Dublin Central Litter Hotline on freephone 1800 248 348 or email litter.central@dublincity.ie. Thanks, Mary

City Bin Service

Statement from Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick, Fianna Fail Group Leader, Dublin City Council 

The City Manager today confirmed that the private Company Greyhound will over the coming days issue bills to approximately 140,000 homes in Dublin City for bin collection services provided in the fourth quarter of 2011 and demand immediate payment.

Homeowners in Dublin City were seriously let down in January of 2012 when after more than 100 years, and with very little prior notice, Dublin City Council withdrew from the waste collection business. This left many homeowners with no option but to go with Greyhound who demanded a minimum €100 up-front payment before they would collect their bins. This deal poorly served homeowners in Dublin City many of whom were given no choice of service provider. Now, to add insult to injury, homeowners in Dublin City are to face a demand for immediate payment for services provided over five months ago.

As a City Councillor I have three issues with this arrangement. Firstly, there has been an unacceptable delay in issuing these bills. This delay causes a problem for homeowners and the demand for immediate payment from Greyhound is heavy handed and should be reconsidered. 

Secondly the delay in issuing the bills also presents a major problem for Dublin City Council because it increases the risk of bad debts. Already Dublin City Council had allowed bad debts of up to €6million accumulate and it is my understanding that the bills for last quarter 2011 amount to close to €4million. This delay could cost the City Council close to €10million and wipe-out much of the proposed savings.

Thirdly, I still don't understand why Dublin City Council out-sourced the collection of these arrears? Why couldn't Dublin City Council staff who have been collecting payments for more than 100 years collect the payments? What tactics are Greyhound proposing to use that Dublin City Council wouldn't? and how much is Greyhound being paid to collect these debts? 

I will raise these questions with the City Manager and I again call on the Minister for the Environment to review this deal. Mary