Belfast Agreement

Question to City Manager City Council Meeting 06/09/2010

Q37. COUNCILLOR BILL TORMEY
(a) Can the City Manager assure the elected members that the fog of war has been lifted from the streets of Dublin in the light of concerns set out below? (b) Has the Manager any plans to test the low self-esteem of citizenry who are afraid of the impact on the minds and hearts of our pure republican population of the presence of a Head of State whose only qualification is based on the name of her father? (c) Does the Manager agree that this whole issue should be forwarded to Gerry Stembridge for recycling? (d) Does this sort of garbage fulfill the criteria for incineration? (e) Has the Manager any idea of the length of time likely to answer the conundrum “When will they ever learn?” as set out below?

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Bikes around the globe

Question to City Manager City Council Meeting 06/09/2010

Q30. COUNCILLOR BILL TORMEY
Could the Manager give comparative data on the usage and value of city bike schemes in cities around the globe?

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JCDeCaux Bike Scheme Original proposal

Origins of JCDecaux Bike Scheme in Dublin

To lift the fog of propaganda regarding the bike scheme and let the truth emerge I asked the relevant question to the city manager.

Question to City Manager City Council Meeting 06/09/2010

Q29. COUNCILLOR BILL TORMEY Could the Manager detail the origin of the
JCDecaux dublinbike deal and when the original idea was discussed at a Strategic Policy Committee or at the City Council?

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Incinerator and Sunday Business Post

Further questions in the light of the Sunday newspapers (Sunday Business Post)

Was the timing of the recent Compulsory Purchase Order dictated by contractual time limits? Was this action taken to avoid the triggering of an exit clause in the contract?

Where in the contract is the financial penalty delineated for the party that triggered the get out clause?

Where is the €200 million penalty clause for DCC exit in the contract? The government was informed earlier this year that it would cost DCC €200 million to withdraw from the contract.

Finally, DCC is supposed to have spent €120 million oin this project to date which could not be recouped.

RTE Prime Time on Incinerator Contract

The RTE Prime Time Report on the contract signed in 2007 between Covanta,
Waste to Energy and Dublin City Council by Paul Cunningham shows a bound
copy of the contract. This was shown to a contract lawyer who stated that
there is a get-out clause if certain conditions had not been met in 36
months. Sunday is the deadline but the council hide behind commercial
confidentiality to avoid answering the questions. Councillor Kevin
Humphries spoke about a new waste management policy in a piece of political
sophistry. This is a national issue not a local constituency issue at
Dublin South East.

This contract must be made available for inspection by councillors in order
to discharge their public duty. At a minimum, the party group leaders on
the council must see this document.

The level of public distrust with regard to this issue is large and the key
underlying problem is the culture of secrecy in the public service in
general which has been inherited from the British civil service. The
country needs a culture change to improve public administration.