REGIONAL FOCUS: FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL
Fingal: Ireland’s fastest growing county Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD pictured with Fingal County Council Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly and Mayor of Fingal Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh during a recent visit to Balbriggan where he viewed plans and sites for a €50 million regeneration project.
When the first meeting of Fingal County Council took place in Newbridge House, Donabate, on 7 January 1994, few, if any, of the 24 councillors in attendance could have imagined the growth that the new county would experience over the next 28 years. The county is now a major driver of the Irish economy through Dublin Airport, the business parks of the Dublin Enterprise Zone and the food-producing fields of north County Dublin. Its population has doubled to around 300,000 and is the fastest growing in Ireland at 8.1 per cent.
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As the county has grown so too has the Council and the role it plays. At €299.8 million, its budget for 2022 is over six times bigger than the €47.7 million it had to spend in its first year of operation. However, every cent is needed to keep pace with the phenomenal growth the county continues to experience while ensuring the delivery of improved services and helping reenergise economic development in a post-Covid environment. The budget, which is the equivalent of a €1,012 spend per head of population, will be spent in a number of key areas such as roads, parks, housing, environment and the delivery of a wide range of operational services across local communities, including road maintenance, traffic management, increased street cleaning and improvement works at parks and open spaces. Some €1.2 million has also been set aside to boost the development of the tourism sector in Fingal. A €784 million Capital Programme is also in place for the next three years covering 237 individual projects 62
across the county and projecting a capital spend in 2022 of €237 million, followed by €265 million in 2023 and a further €282 million in 2023. This Capital Programme is one of the highest in the country which, according to the Mayor of Fingal, Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, is not surprising given the demands created by a burgeoning population and ongoing economic growth. “Investment in infrastructure across the county is extremely important given our commitment to making Fingal a great place to live, work, visit and do business. The focus of councillors and staff over the next three years will be to ensure that all 237 projects continue to progress towards delivery,” she said. Not surprisingly, the provision of housing and strategic infrastructure makes up over 70 per cent of the Capital Programme with the €393 million housing budget underpinning the Council’s commitment to delivering a significant housing programme under the Government’s new housing plan, Housing for All. The Council’s objective is to maximise the supply and availability of suitable accommodation for households unable to provide accommodation from their own resources and to provide good quality housing to purchase or rent at an affordable price. Progressing plans for the development of landbanks at Church
