Council Briefs: Boycotting HP-branded products, quietening the M50, and pushing for more social housing

At their July monthly meeting on Monday night, councillors voted in favour of Fingal County Council divesting from IT and other products manufactured by corporations connected to the Israeli military.

A motion from Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell singled out the HP-branded laptops that he and other elected representatives use.

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) has urged a boycott of the HP-branded corporations, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprises, as well as its subsidiaries.

Burtchaell, in his motion, mentioned Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which previously had a contract to provide and maintain Israel’s ID card system, and which according to BNC, “forms a core part of the Israeli apartheid regime”.

HP-branded IT products bought by Fingal County Council in recent years include 440 monitors, the council’s 2022 record of contracts show and 250 docking stations, according to records from July 2021.

Officials said they couldn’t boycott these.

Mary Egan, the council’s director of the People, Corporate and Digital Services, and Oliver Hunt, head of the Finance Department, said in a written report that the procurement of IT and other products is carried out in accordance with EU rules and national regulations.

The council is not permitted to specify that products from particular companies are excluded from any tendering process, the report said.

If the council fails to conduct a public procurement in keeping with EU directives, it could result in financial penalties, the report said.

Speaking in the council’s chamber, with its tables scattered with HP-branded silver laptops, People Before Profit Councillor Ruth Coppinger said it was unfortunate that these devices had already been purchased.

“But from hereon in I think we can take a stand,” she said.

Coppinger said that the EU directives allow companies to be divested if they show great professional misconduct. “So we actually do have an ethical out and we can argue that legally.”

Green Party Councillor David Healy said he also disagreed with the Egan and Hunt’s report. The council can take these issues into consideration when it comes to procurement, he said.

This has been done by other councils, he said. “It’s been done at a national level in various European countries.”

The council has expressed solidarity several times, he said. “I think it’s really important that we take practical actions.”

Oliver Hunt, the council’s head of finance, called the motion “hugely problematic” from a legal point of view.

It would be in breach of procurement regulations as it would be acting discriminately against a supplier, he said, and would expose Fingal County Council to legal challenges and financial risks.

It is a broad motion, Hunt said. “It doesn’t just speak about laptops. It speaks about divesting from IT and other products manufactured by corporations connected to the Israeli military.”

It doesn’t include a list of any other companies, he said.

The council shouldn’t just stop at HP-branded companies, Burtchaell said. “I think we should have a root-and-branch review of the top offenders, root them out and make them pay the price.”

His motion was agreed, with 19 councillors voting yes, while 8 said no, and 3 abstained.

Dublin city councillors in 2018 agreed a similar motion, that the council should discontinue all contracts with HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise because of their work with the Israeli government.

But, as in Fingal, council managers said they could not implement this due to public procurement rules.

Quietening the M50

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has been widening the M50. And it has made no efforts to address the concerns of residents impacted by the greater vehicle noise, said Labour Councillor John Walsh at Monday’s meeting.

Whenever this noise pollution is brought to the attention of TII – the state agency in charge of the primary and secondary road network – it has consistently refused to do anything about it, he said.

He quoted recent correspondence from the agency to Fingal County Council. In it, Walsh said, TII insisted that it has no role in the implementation of noise action plans under the regulations.

TII also insisted that all environmental noise-related issues are a matter for Fingal, Walsh said.

It basically says they aren’t responsible for managing any noise anywhere, it would seem, said Walsh.

“We really have entered the Twilight Zone, when the agency responsible for works along the M50 disclaims any responsibility for noise mitigation,” he said.

“It’s an extraordinary response, and it demonstrates contempt for local residents and communities living along the route,” he said.

Not only that, when the council has made attempts to mitigate noise by attaching conditions to new development applications, TII has frequently opposed these, he said. “I think we have a very serious problem, that a state agency is refusing to engage here.”

Walsh brought forward a motion, asking TII to engage with the council and residents near the M50 to address this long-standing problem.

There are solutions to this, said Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy, like natural sound barriers or using surfaces that can reduce noise on the roads.

TII won’t do any of this themselves, he said. “They will do it if pressure comes on from the local authorities.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly said this same problem is ongoing nearby on the N3 in Dublin 15, suggesting that noise barriers and reduced speeds could have an effect.

David Storey, the council’s director of Environment, Climate Action, Active Travel and Sports, told the committee that TII’s position is not acceptable.

The four Dublin local authorities have all received this same response from them, he said, and they are looking to resolve this issue with the agency and any issues around funding.

The trouble would seem to be that Fingal is the roads authority, he said. “But they’re maintaining the roads, and there’s a breakdown there, because obviously if they are maintaining the roads, they should be able to carry out the measures.”

Fingal needs to dramatically quicken the pace of directly delivering social and affordable housing, said People Before Profit Councillor Ruth Coppinger towards the end of the meeting on Monday evening.

In a motion, Coppinger said that the council needs to prioritise a plan to fast-track the development of its own land.

Coppinger also asked that the Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly identify any other council-owned land that can be developed in the short or medium term.

The council’s record on directly delivering housing isn’t great, Coppinger said. “In the Dublin 15 area, where I represent, Fingal County Council directly built, in five years, 228 houses.”

There is a major landbank in Scribblestown, 100 hectares of which is zoned for housing, she said. “I raised this in my meeting with the chief executive. She assured me that it will be looked at. But it’s down as long-term.”

That needs to be made in the short or medium term, she said.

Scribblestown, or Dunsink, needs quite a considerable amount of infrastructure, said Farrelly, the Fingal chief executive. “So we’ll be working through that.”

Paul Carroll, the interim director of services for the council’s Housing and Community Development Department, outlined in a written report the social and affordable homes in the pipeline – including those being developed with the Land Development Agency or by approved housing bodies.

Also, across the county, there are 62 other active sites with 2,726 private homes under construction, and social homes will also be delivered from these sites under Part V planning, his report said.

Labour Councillor John Walsh said that there are an enormous number of sites with full planning permission but no construction.

There are 57 inactive sites across Fingal, for 10 or more dwellings, he said. “That’s a total of 13,664 units that have never been commenced.”

Also, there are a further 174 inactive single or small sites, that have a total of 299 dwelling units not commenced, he said. “That’s almost 14,000 homes that have never been built, that have full planning permission.”

Farrelly said that the council has a target to deliver 6,500 homes up to 2026. “That’s social and affordable dwellings.”

In May, two schemes were brought through the council for noting, which allows the council to secure early and quick planning permission for social housing, she said.

“So there were 449 units on two sites, one in Donabate and the other here in Swords, and we’re moving now at pace to get those to procurement,” she said.