-       Minutes of Draft Budget Meeting on 21^st November 2018

-       Minutes of Plenary Meeting on 26^th November 2018

On the PROPOSAL of Councillor Cummins

            SECONDED by Councillor Ward

It was AGREED to adopt the Minutes of Budget Meeting held on 21.11.2018

On the PROPOSAL of Councillor Shanagher

            SECONDED by Councillor Fallon

It was AGREED to adopt the Minutes of Plenary Meeting held on 26.11.2018

There were no matters arising

Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for the OPW and Flood Relief

The Cathaoirleach welcomed Mr. Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran T.D. and Minister of State to the meeting and Mr. Maurice Buckley, Chairman of the Office of Public Works.  He also welcomed Deputy Denis Naughten T.D.  and Senator John Dolan who were in attendance at the meeting.

Cllr. Ward expresses his shock and surprise that as a local elected member he was not afforded an invitation to meet with the Minister on his visit to Roscommon this morning especially in South Roscommon. He proposed that in future that all Elected members be invited to all functions and meetings from Ministers to the county of Roscommon. Cllr. Kilduff also expressed his upset saying he was very disappointed not to be invited to his Rindoon in his own parish this morning that there should be a protocol in place when a Minister visits the county to include all elected members.

The Cathaoirleach thanked the Minister and Mr. Buckley for attending as their remit of the Office of Public Works affected many ongoing issue in County Roscommon from flooding to Heritage. He invited the elected members to speak on their local issues:

·         Flooding at Milltown near Castleplunkett and Briarfield/Lisalway led to roads being closed for a considerable period of time in 2015. Considerable investment is required now to ensure the roads in these areas are remediated to mitigate against more flooding in the future.

·         The levels of Lough Fuinshinagh, although having reduced are still higher than they should be with adjacent lands still flooded. Action is required when the study, expected soon, is completed. Farmers cannot farm the land and are being penalised with their single farm payments.

·         Boyle 2040 is a shovel ready project with Part 8 Planning approved last week. The Council now require funding to progress the project as this project has the potential to transform not only the town of Boyle but the entire area.

·         Issue with Flood risk management at Aughnagrange in Boyle, Correal and Athleague and Clonown in South Roscommon. In Cortober access roads to the N4 are often flooded and is there a possibility of including upgrade works here in the Carrick on Shannon scheme?

·         Welcome the 10 year plan for the heritage site of Rindoon. This is a very important ancient settlement and immediate help is required to secure the building as one stone on the corner is keeping it intact presently.

·         Welcome visit of Minister to Rathcroghan – this ancient and very important site has not been developed properly. An aerial view shows the extent of the site.  Toilet facilities need to be developed for visitors and the OPW own an old farmhouse that could be converted on site. The farmers in the area have committed to cooperate with potential development of the site.

·         Level of silt on the River Shannon and lack of maintenance of the River Jiggy need to be addressed. Barriers are not the solution but actual remediation works in the rivers including lowering culverts at pinch-points

·         Welcome the visit to Roscommon Castle and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 167.18

The Cathaoirleach invited Senator John Dolan to speak to the members regarding Disability issues.

He highlighted the following:

·         Abuse of parking spots designated for thise with disabilities

·         The third of December is National Disability Awareness day and the colour purple highlights this.

·         He is an independent voice for 643,000 people in Ireland who are registered as having a disability – 9,000 in Roscommon and 3,000 carers are registers. Up to one third of older people have disability problems.

·         His challenge to the Members is to consider how to make Roscommon more welcoming and accessible to people with disabilities to work, live and play

The members thanked Senator Dolan for his attendance and informed him about initiative in Roscommon such as 1hour parking, the access in Áras an Chontae, and the upgrade works at the Arts Centre. Other examples include Cuisla and fishing bays that are disability friendly although the lack of carers in the county was highlighted as an issue.

The Chairperson of the Economic Development and Enterprise Support SPC, Cllr. Nigel Dineen introduced Mark Conway from Ventura to present the Draft Roscommon County Council Global Rossie Diaspora Strategy. Funding was received in 2016 to complete the strategy and the aim of the Strategy is to strengthen the Roscommon family – contact was made with communities both at home in Roscommon and associations throughout the world with Roscommon connections for their input. He outlined how important it is to work with the Roscommon Associations to promote the county and its heritage. He thanked the staff for their input into the Draft strategy.

Mr. Conway outlined his role in facilitating the process and the scope of the

·         Collaborative journey with Leitrim Longford and Sligo but 4 distinct strategies.

·         64,000 is the population currently living in Roscommon, 10,800 born in the county and living elsewhere, 81,200 born in Roscommon living in UK and 945,000 people in the world with roots in Roscommon.

·         The Diaspora is to be seen as an asset and a responsibility. There is no one single diaspora, it is made up of varied communities, individuals etc. Emotion lies at the heart of the strategy

·         Most emigrants going to EU followed by UK and USA/Australia and peak ages for people leaving is early twenties so we are sending away our best educated and connected people and Construction is at the heart of emigrants.

·         The GAA is central to where people connect when abroad – 95% of connection back home is through social media and the place people chose to go is where they already know someone.

·         Important is quality of life as to why people come back

·         Categorisation of diaspora – the established diaspora who left in 50’s to 90’s; the millennials who left in 2000’s; those who live in Dublin region and the affinity diaspora e.g. Brazilians who lived here and now gone home.

·         The themes to the strategy – developing the Roscommon Brand i.e. a ‘Roscommon Pin’ and ‘Roscommon Passport’ is being developed; developing business opportunities – can work there but live in Roscommon; culture heritage and sport – when diaspora visit they come for festivals and fairs etc.  and those want to know ‘Who am I?’ and finally the GAA – visit every 5 years to New York and London – this trip can be tapped into.

·         Digital Connectivity – live streaming and central county website to include all things Roscommon.

·         Encourage everyone to be proud to be from Roscommon, promote and share all things Roscommon, invest in your home town or parish, keep in contact.

The Members welcomed the Strategy:

·         Roscommon Day is a great idea. The town teams could get involved in a ‘Who do you think you are?’ and introduce a high profile person to start.

·         The Town Twinning is an important initiative to keep alive – we expect people to travel to Roscommon but it is equally important to travel there

·         Very important to include all of the county and its attractions

·         Welcome  ...  view the full minutes text for item 169.18

Mr. Tomas Beades, Development Officer with Roscommon LEADER Partnership gave the members an update on the programme as requested at the recent LCDC meeting.

·         The programme runs from 2014 – 2020 and although initial progress was slow the target of approving 50% of the budget by Dec 20-18 has been achieved.  

·         The approvals to date of for a total of 48 projects at a cost of €3.3m consisting of €846,00 in Athlone MD, €1.4m in Roscommon MD and €1m in Boyle MD in addition to €155,000 on feasibility studies and reports.

·         There is another €3.2m to be approved for projects by end of 2020.

·         Now that the target allocations have been reached, this gives scope to revise the budget in early 2019. As almost all of the tourism budget is approved, it is proposed to allocate more funding to this area for capital projects. There is a tourism & marketing call out at present for €100k.

·         The closing date for current applications is 18^th December 2019.

·         Acknowledge the input of Roscommon County Council and LCDC and all partners in the process to date. Roscommon is now one of the leading counties with regard to approvals given and the message going forward is a positive one.

·         LEADER as always available to meet with communities who wish to apply for grant funding

Cllr. Laurence Fallon as Chairperson of the LCDC thanked all who are working to progress projects and encouraged groups to contact LEADER if they have proposed projects.

Members welcomed the progress to date as it was felt that it took some time to get to this stage but all seems back on track. The Minister Ring deserves some credit for getting intervening to streamline the process as delays were frustrating and a national issue. Mr. Beades was asked to support Rural Tourism ‘Castle in Communities’ project and he confirmed that this is the type of project, together with infrastructure development, that will be looked at when reallocating the Budget in January.

Mr. Beades confirmed that of the €3.3m approved, the spend to date is €200,000 and LEADER will work with Roscommon County Council to accelerate this spend in 2019. There is also challenge to be met with regard to meeting job targets. Up to fifty expressions of interest were received in relation to festivals and events with a deadline of today. As regard LEADER funding for enterprise and development, LEADER work closely with LEO in Roscommon Co. Co. and there is a Service Level Agreement between both to deliver certain projects. 

The funding of €50,000 for broadband is for small scale infrastructure and no project has been approved to date. This includes projects less than €10,000 e.g. promote routers in community centres.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. J Cummins

            SECONDED by Cllr. J Keogh

It was AGREED to extend Standing Orders after 5.30pm

-          November 2018

The Management Report for November 2018 was noted.

-          Plots A, B& C of Folio RN17283F and Plots D, E & F of Folio RN17247F at Tintagh Td., Boyle Co Roscommon.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. J. Cummins

           SECONDED by Cllr. R. Doherty

It was AGREED that the Council consent to the disposal of lands pursuant to the Provisions of Section 211 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 and Section 183 of the Local Government Act, 2001.  Particulars of the land which the County Council proposes to dispose of:-

The land:  Plots A, B& C of Folio RN17283F and Plots D, E & F of Folio RN17247F at Tintagh Td., Boyle Co Roscommon.

The persons from whom the land was acquired: Gerard Harrington under CPO No.1 1993 Curlew Mountains Road Project

The person to whom the land is to be disposed:  Gerard Harrington C/O Henry J Wynne & Co. Solicitors, Elphin St., Boyle, Co Roscommon

Consideration: Nominal

-       Site including Right of Way at Lisroyne Td., Strokestown, Co. Roscommon

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. J Murphy

           SECONDED by Cllr. L Callaghan

It was AGREED that the Council consent to the lease of lands pursuant to the Provisions of Section 211 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 and Section 183 of the Local Government Act, 2001.  Particulars of the land which the County Council proposes to lease:-

The land:  Site comprising 0.038ha. (0.093 acres) including right of way at Lisroyne., Strokestown, Co. Roscommon

The person to whom the land is to be leased:  Cignal Infrastructure Ltd. Suite 309, Q House 76 Furze Road,  Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18

Consideration: €4,000 plus VAT @23% per annum

Term of Lease: 30 Years

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr J Cummins

SECONDED by Cllr. J Naughten

It was AGREED the Adopt the Draft Annual Service Delivery Plan 2019

Mr. Martin Lydon informed the members that the Annual Charter should be reviewed annually by the Audit Committee. It is noted that the Charter was reviewed on 4^th December and there are no changes.

Mr. Lydon informed the members that the Audit Committee has to prepare an Annual Work Programme for 2019 that has to be adopted.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. J Cummins

SECONDED by Cllr. M Creaton

It was AGREED to adopt the Draft Audit Committee Work Programme for 2019.

Cllr. Leyden queried the statement in the Work Programme that a key risk in the delivery of the plan is the resources available to the Internal Audit Function of the Council as the Audit Committee will only be in a position to review reports presented to it. In light of recent VAT default she sought assurances that any such issues would be brought to the Audit Committee in a timely manner.

Mr. Lydon replied that a thorough review was undertaken by Internal Audit and robust Policies and Procedures updated accordingly and presented and accepted by the Audit Committee in December. As regard the VAT issue, there was no agreement in place until July and further negotiations to be completed before it was brought to the Audit Committee who accepted the report.

Cllr. Cummins confirmed that the Audit Committee asked similar questions and is satisfied the necessary policies are now in place.

-          Notice of Motion 13.18 from Cllr. John Naughten

-          Notice of Motion 14.18 from Cllr. Tony Ward

-          Notice of Motion 15.18 from Cllr. Ivan Connaughton

Local Improvement Schemes

13.18 Notice of Motion from Councillor Naughten

“That Roscommon County Council re-open the Local Improvement Scheme for new applications”

The Meetings Administrator read the following reply:

Roscommon County Council currently has an additional 72 Local Improvement Scheme applications on hand totalling in excess of €1million. These will be dealt with in line with the Scheme of Priority as agreed by the Strategic Policy Committee subject to additional funding allocated from the Department of Rural and Community Development. It was also agreed by the SPC that no new applications would be accepted or the Local Improvement Scheme be re-advertised until the current backlog of applications is cleared. 

In 2018 Roscommon County Council received €820,000 in LIS funding from the Department of Rural & Community Development that was allocated to 91 scheme applications.

Cllr. Naughten thanked the Meetings Administrator for the reply and acknowledged the significant funding received but said that a number of the schemes might not go ahead and there are still many roads with a lot of houses in need of the scheme.  The Council should reopen the scheme and be in a position if additional funds come through to have adequate schemes to take up this funding. He agreed that the existing applications be dealt with first.

Cllr. Ward proposed an amendment that the LIS scheme needs to be changed to allow applications whereby if there is only one home owner/landowner on a road they not be excluded from the scheme.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Naughten

             SECONDED by Cllr. Ward

It was AGREED that Roscommon County Council, through the SPC, reopen the Local Improvement Scheme for applications in early 2019 and to write to the Minister to amend the scheme to allow roads that have only one householder/landowner be included in the scheme.

HSE Funding for Sacred Heart Hospital

14.18 Notice of Motion from Councillor Ward

“I am calling on the Minister for Health, Mr. Simon Harris T.D., and the Government and the Health Service Executive, to provide the necessary funding to build new 50 bedded CNU on the site of the Sacred Heart Hospital in Roscommon”

The Meetings Administrator read the following reply:

This Notice of Motion requires a Resolution of the Council.

Cllr. Ward informed the members that he has raised the question regarding the funding for the CNU on many occasions with the HSE and it was confirmed to him that the sum of €9m was ring-fenced. At the last meeting of the HSE forum he was taken aback to hear that the funding is not ring-fenced and the project pushed out to 2024.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Ward

             SECONDED by Cllr. Kilduff

It was AGREED to write to the Minister for Health Mr. Simon Harris to get confirmation that the Community Nursing Unit proposed for on the site of the Sacred Heart Hospital in Roscommon is included in the Capital Plan and the €9m cost is ring- fenced for this project.

Cllr. Ward asked that all Roscommon Oireachtas members highlight  ...  view the full minutes text for item 178.18

·         Letter received from Donegal County Council dated 4^th December, 2018 regarding a resolution that was passed “The First Dáil Éireann assembly constituted and mandated by the electorate in the 1918 General Election. Mindful and supportive of national intentions to mark this historical occasion, that Donegal County Council now,

1)      Initiate and organise a comprehensive programme of celebration and commemoration of the First Dáil within the county in 2019,

2)      Invite nearest next of kin of family member of the first TDs representing the Donegal Constituencies to an event in the Plenary Council Headquarters Lifford,

3)      Promote and sponsor a first and second level historical schools project on the First Dáil within all schools in the County.

4)      That the Minister for Education & Skills in light of the recent decision to revisit the proposal to make history an optional subject in the Junior Certificate, acts immediately to ensure that the subject if reinstated as a mandatory subject at the Junior Certificate level”.

Roscommon Leisure Centre Award

The Chief Executive informed the members that Roscommon Leisure Centre had recently been awarded the Outstanding Standard of the National Quality Standards Award. This is a major achievement for the centre and its staff and involved a lot of work to ensuring that all appropriate policies are in place and on foot of a huge maintenance programme. The Chief Executive thanked all of the work to achieve the award including Sharon Ryan and Sharon O’Connor in the centre and main drivers for applying for the achievement and John O’Rourke who overseen the improvement works.

The Cathaoirleach congratulated all involved and Cllr. Shanagher and Leyden also recorded their congratulations and outlined the benefits of the pool to the community in providing swimming lessons and leisure facilities and wider area and the commitment of the Council to fund the centre.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Kilduff

            SECONDED by Cllr. Shanagher

It was AGREED to adopt the list of payments for training and conferences as circulated.

The late Mrs. Kitty Duignan, former Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council:

Cllr.  Liam Callaghan expressed his sympathy to the family, son in law Paul grandchildren and brother and sister, of the late Mrs. Kitty Duignan from Boyle who passed away recently. Kitty was a former member of Roscommon County Council  where she served for fifteen years including a term as Cathaoirleach. Her late husband Charlie also served as Cathaoirleach during his term as a councillor before her – a unique distinction. 

Kitty always put the people of her area and the issues of her area first and was a very generous,  charitable and kind person.

Cllrs. Creaton, Kilduff, Mulligan, Doherty, Fallon and Connaughton and the Chief Executive paid tribute to the late Kitty Duignan. All who spoke remembered the late Kitty Duignan as an extraordinary woman who was held in very high esteem by everyone who met her.

A minutes silence was then observed in memory of the late Mrs. Kitty Duignan.

Incident at Flask, Strokestown

Cllr. Callaghan stated there was some disquiet and distress in the community of Strokestown following a recent heavy handed eviction at a house and farm at Flask. There was also a very distressing incident early on Sunday morning when property was burned and security mem attacked.  He called for dialogue to deal with the matter at hand to resolve the situation.

Cllrs. Murphy, Mulligan, Ward, Kilduff, Doherty, Fallon and Cummins and the Cathaoirleach also spoke on the matter as follows:

·         There are at least twelve eviction cases pending in Roscommon currently

·         The Government and the Banks need to start talking about how all of these pending eviction cases are dealt with

·         Need to have an arrangement where people are not evicted from their homes but consideration of a write-down of debt. This was what was proposed by the previous Government.

·         Tenants have more rights than the homeowners in these situations

·         Concern over vulture funds buying debt and evicting anyone who cannot pay – vulture funds paying off vulture funds.

·         There will be a larger increase in homelessness and housing list.

·         Concern about breakdown of confidence in Gardaí and law and order in the country

·         Condemnation of violence in any instance

·         Need for politicians to find a solution to the spiralling numbers of mortgages in default. There are over 14,000 mortgages currently in arrears in the country and a considerable number of people and farmers in great distress.

·          

In response to a question regarding Roscommon County Councils contingency plans for dealing with someone who has been evicted, Mr. Martin Lydon confirmed that the Council becomes homeless in such circumstances have processes and protocols in place.

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Mulligan

SECONDED by Cllr Murphy

It was AGREED to call on the Minister for Finance that laws governing mortgages and bad debts be changed to reflect the situation

Cllr Kilduff Statement

Cllr Kilduff congratulated Cllr. Fitzmaurice and Leyden on receiving a nomination to contest the forthcoming Local Elections. He also wished Cllr. Keogh well at the Athlone MD selection convention tonight. With reference to a radio interview six months ago, Cllr. Kilduff stated that contrary to what was said in the interview he did not apologise to Cllr.  Keogh and he will not be apologising in the future.

HSE Forum Report

Cllr. Ward informed the meeting that on behalf of himself, Cllr Creaton and Cllr Kilduff who attend the HSE forum, he wants to make the members aware of the following:

The training allowance in Roscommon was reduced from €32.00pw to €20.00 pw. Galway and Mayo have not seen a reduction in this allowance. He has also been told that a review is ongoing and new service users will get a nil allowance. The waiting list for dental appointments for children is currently 623 in County Roscommon and for example and there are currently no dental services in Ballyforan and Ballinasloe and patients have to travel to Castlerea. With regard to Roscommon Hospital, St Brigid’s ward  ...  view the full minutes text for item 183.18