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Business in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown should act now and apply for a once-off Government grant to help them meet rising costs, Fine Gael Local Area Representative for Dundrum, Eoin O’Driscoll has said. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown

O’Driscoll urged Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, that is currently administering the scheme on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to proactively engage with businesses and allow them to apply for the scheme beyond the May 1st deadline.

O’Driscoll said: “This €257 million scheme was announced in Budget 2024 by my colleague, former Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, and will provide a real boost to micro businesses and small and medium enterprises here in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

“In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, 3,911 eligible businesses have yet to make a submission for the scheme and I would urge them to do so through the online portal at dlrcoco.ie. If they need assistance, businesses can also contact Dún Laoghaire- Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Rathdown County Council, which have written to all rate payers with a Customer ID and pin.

“The deadline of May 1st for businesses to confirm their eligibility and upload verification details is fast approaching in a couple of weeks on May 1st, and I would like to see this deadline extended to ensure they benefit from this vital support.

“For businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of less than €10,000, the ICOB grant will be paid at a rate of 50% of the business’s Commercial Rate bill for 2023. For qualifying businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of between €10,000 and €30,000, the ICOB grant will be €5,000.

“There should also be pro-active direct email engagement by Local authorities and Local Enterprise Offices to ensure that entrepreneurs and business owners in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council get a portion of their rates back.

“I am also pleased that Taoiseach Simon Harris and Enterprise Minister Peter Burke are working with Government colleagues to examine what additional supports can be provided to small and medium businesses, ahead of Budget 2025,”

“Fine Gael is the party of small business. We know small businesses are at the heart of our local communities and economies. We also are aware of the pressure businesses are under, and we want to help,” O’Driscoll concluded.

Minister Burke said: “This grant is a vital measure aimed at providing key funding to our small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy.

“It is my priority and a key priority of this government to assist our businesses with any increase in costs they are facing to ensure they can continue to play a pivotal role in our local economy.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The increased cost to business (ICOB) grant is based on the value of the Commercial Rates bill received by an eligible business in 2023. 

• For businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of less than €10,000, the grant will be paid at a rate of 50% of the business’s Commercial Rate bill for 2023.

• For qualifying businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of between €10,000 and €30,000, the grant will be €5,000.

• Businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rates bill greater than €30,000 are not eligible to receive an ICOB grant.

Essentially, a business will get a payment of 50% of their 2023 rates bill or €5,000, whichever is the lesser.

So far, only 1,067 submissions have been made for the grant in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown our of 4,978 potentially eligible businesses.

Businesses simply register on dlrcoco.ie.

Examples

• A hairdresser with a rates bill of €8,000 per year will receive a payment of €4,000.
• A restaurant owner with a rates bill of €12,000 per year will receive €5,000

My name is Eoin O’Driscoll. I am your Fine Gael candidate for the Dundrum Local Electoral Area.

I am passionate about using local politics to ensure that Dundrum
is the best possible place to live, raise a family and grow old in.
Supporting local enterprise is one of my core priorities as a
candidate. Local businesses are at the heart of our community
and are critical in ensuring it continues to thrive.

Therefore, I am delighted to invite you to a public meeting 7.30pm Tuesday 13th February 2024 with Minister for Business, Employment
and Retail Neale Richmond and Aileen Eglington, PRO and past
President, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Chamber of Commerce.
The meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the opportunities
and challenges facing local enterprise and how we can best ensure
the continued prosperity of our local community.

I hope to see you there for what should be a very informative evening.
Please do get in touch if I can ever be of assistance to you.

I was delighted to host a public meeting on youth politics Tuesday 28th November 2023 in Dom Marmion House, Dundrum.

I am passionate about using local politics to ensure that Dundrum is the best possible place to live, raise a family and grow old in.

Young people’s voices are too often underrepresented in Irish politics. The only way to address this is to get involved. I firmly believe in the power of political engagement to deliver positive change in our community.

To register to vote, check out: https://www.voter.ie/

For more about Young Fine Gael, check out: https://www.yfg.ie/

Fine Gael Local Election Candidate for Dundrum, Eoin O’Driscoll has urged people to be aware of scam text messages circulating, particularly in the run-up to Christmas. “Over the past week alone, I’ve received a number of scam messages,” O’Driscoll said. “They range from the An Post ‘your package won’t be delivered unless you pay a fee’ text and the ‘claim your electricity credit’ text, all of which are scam artists trying to catch vulnerable people out,” he explained. “While all of these tricks have been reasonably well reported, I am urging people to speak to those around them, especially the elderly and more vulnerable, to explain to them that they should never click into the links. Have that conversation with people around you to remind people to always be wary of a number that they are not familiar with.”

Comreg has some very useful tips such as:

· Be cautious of unsolicited text messages from unknown senders

· Do not click on a link or reply to a message

· Don’t share personal information. Legitimate texts never ask you for personal or financial information

· DO NOT RESPOND

· Be familiar with how businesses and services you engage with will contact you – visit their website to find out or ask them how they are likely to contact you

· Verify sender details by visiting the company’s official website or in the case of your bank, ring the number on the back of your bank card. NEVER use contact details in the text.

“Coming up to Christmas, most people are working within budgets. With the cost of living still high, I would not like to see anyone getting caught out with these text scams. There are very clever organisations behind these scams and many of the numbers look like they are Irish numbers. Some of the links to the banks also look very real, so that’s why reminders are very important. If you feel you have been a victim of fraud, always contact your local Garda station, who are there to help,” O’Driscoll added.”

The Dundrum Local Area Plan came into effect 21st November 2023.

The local area plan is an important document for our community which will underpin planning over the coming years. While I am fully supportive of the ambition outlined in the plan, I am dissatisfied with the lack of meaningful public consultation in its development. This, I believe, has led to a number of issues in the detail of the plan, particularly with regard to its prioritisation of Dundrum Main Street and its position as the heart of local community life.

I outlined my views in a submission to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council during the July 2023 consultation process on a Draft version of the plan. You can read it below.

You can find out more about the plan here.

Consultation Submission

Re: Dundrum Local Area Plan

Eoin O’Driscoll

Local Area Representative – Dundrum

Fine Gael

This document outlines my views on the current draft Dundrum Local Area Plan based on my engagement with residents in my capacity as a Fine Gael Local Area Representative for Dundrum and my own perspective on the draft plan and its impact on our community.

The vision for Dundrum outlined in the draft Local Area Plan of “a vibrant, inclusive and attractive town which is connected to and supports surrounding neighbourhoods and functions as a place people can enjoy, to live in, work in and visit” is positive and ambitious. Furthermore, I support the Council in its identification of the following priorities:

• 10-minute neighbourhood
• Character and heritage
• Quality Homes
• Amenities and Employment
• Permeability, Public Transport and Climate Action
• Open Space and Healthy Placemaking

I look forward to the development of a Masterplan for the Old Dundrum Shopping Centre (as outlined in section 2.9.2). The proposed development of a public park, pedestrian focused walkway and civic space on the site will significantly enhance the village, building on the significant public realm improvements on the Main Street implemented in recent years. The development of the Old Dundrum Shopping Centre site, as recognised in the draft plan, presents a major opportunity to significantly enhance the vibrancy of the village.

The measures outlined in Section 5: Climate Action – Mitigation and Adaptation will play an important role in ensuring the medium and long-term sustainability of our community. Delivering on Climate Action is the major challenge of our generation and it is important that the Local Area Plan supports Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in achieving its ambitions in this regard.

In this submission, however, I wish to raise two significant concerns I have with the current draft Local Area Plan:

1. There has not been sufficient consultation with residents
2. The central role of Main Street as the heart of the community in Dundrum has not been sufficiently prioritised

1. Insufficient Public Consultation

The development of a Local Area Plan is of major significance for the community in Dundrum. The plan will shape the development of the village at a critical juncture as we deal with the major challenges posed by climate action and ageing demographics. Therefore, it is of critical importance that the community are fully engaged in the development of the plan and that their support is secured for the ambitious measures outlined therein.

Unfortunately, I do not believe that this has been achieved. Public interest in the plan is strongly evident over the past number of weeks. It is clear that residents want to be engaged in the process. However, it is also evident that the Council has not effectively engaged residents to date.

The pre-draft consultation on the plan occurred in 2018. The issues paper published by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council as part of the process is predicated on the adoption of a Dundrum Local Area Plan in late 2019. Consultation at such a lengthy remove from the publication of the Local Area Plan is not meaningful public engagement.

In the nearly five years since the pre-draft process, the context of the plan has changed significantly, the demographics of Dundrum and how we live our lives (i.e. utilisation of new technologies, increase in remote working) has changed substantially. Moreover, the pre-draft consultation predates the publication of the DLR County Development Plan and Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy – two significant policy documents underpinning the draft Dundrum Local Area Plan.

Therefore, I do not believe that the pre-draft consultation process can be considered meaningful public engagement in the development of this plan.

I do not believe that the draft plan can be considered to reflect “public and community aspirations”.

This urgently needs to be addressed.

Furthermore, I am dissatisfied with the decision of the Council to hold the public consultation on the draft plan over the summer months when many residents are on holidays and engagement can be expected to be comparatively low.

I would also urge the Council to take into account the need to actively engage residents as part of public consultation efforts. While the current consultation has been clearly advertised online and via the Council’s social media, greater emphasis on traditional means of communication and particularly leafletting should be considered for future consultations.

• Vibrancy of Main Street

While Section 1 of the draft plan recognises Dundrum as a “major town centre”, this is not sufficiently recognised throughout the plan.

Dundrum community life revolves around Dundrum Main Street. Therefore, its vibrancy should be front and centre of the plan. Considering the material impact of many of the proposals in the draft plan to Main Street, the lack of meaningful engagement with its businesses, many of which have served our community for decades, is disappointing.

Local businesses and residents are concerned about access to Main Street. Measures to support pedestrian and bicycle access are welcome, as are specific efforts to reduce car usage. However, access to elderly and those with disabilities needs to be taken into consideration – particularly with regard to access to Holy Cross Church. For Main Street to remain the vibrant heart of the Dundrum community, reasonable parking provision will be required. A detailed assessment of local residents’ access needs, based on meaningful public engagement and consultation with the businesses operating on Main Street, should be undertaken by the Council to ensure that the finalised plan reflect this.

I would also ask the Council to consider the provision of facilities to support the greater use of public and active transport. Public storage facilities for bike helmets, shopping et cetera could help facilitate utilisation of Main Street without reliance on a car. Such facilities would augment public realm improvements implemented over recent years.