#dlharbour – Councillors have made calls for the full executive power of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company (DLHC) to be given to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCoCo) when it transfers its control to the local authority, according to reports of a council meeting in the Dublin Gazette here.
Details of the handover between the council, the Department of Transport and the company are ongoing since Port changes were mooted by the Competition Authority in 2013. The Cabinet approved the draft General Scheme of a new Bill with important implications for Ireland's vital port sector in June 2014 but since then the precise details of handovers to local authorities appear unclear.
In Dun Laoghaire Cllr Denis O'Callaghan (Lab) submitted a motion calling for control to pass to elected members along with council management when the transfer is complete.
He said: "My concern is that the elected council [members] up to now are being written out of the loop. As representatives, it is reasonable that we should have an input on how one of the largest public spaces in the country [will be run]."
Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind) said: "We should have central control over the policy and direction. This is our opportunity to grasp this organisation and be fully part of it, going forward."
The council's chief executive, Philomena Poole, said: "At the Oireachtas committee meeting, we asked if it should be a company under executive control or under members' control. Legislation needs to be clear on that; as of yet, that has not been drafted."
She also said it was the shareholding of the company that was being transferred while the DLHC itself would remain as a standalone company. "The main change is that the council will take the place now occupied by the Minister [of Transport, Paschal Donohoe]."
A spokesperson for DLHC told Dublin Gazette: "These are decisions to be made by the Government and we understand they will be addressed in the Harbours (Amendment) Bill, which the Government has indicated will be published before the summer."
More on this story in Dublin Gazette here.