The following was raised for discussion at the November meeting of Kildare County Council, held on 24/11/2025.
An Comhairleoir – Councillor William Durkan That the council outlines how many streetlamps are under Kildare County Council management, how many have been replaced with modern LED lamps to date, and what plan does the council have to replace the remaining lamps.
Report: Kildare County Council currently manages 24,129 public lights. To date, 20,019 of these have been installed or retrofitted with energy-efficient LED lanterns, leaving 4,110 lights with older high-energy lanterns. The Council is currently undertaking a Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project (PLEEP), which involves the survey, design and retrofitting all old high energy lanterns with energy efficient LED lanterns, under its control. The Council will continue to retrofit old high energy lanterns with energy efficient LED lanterns under the PLEEP and through our public lighting maintenance contract.
Motion: Councillors Brendan Wyse, Daragh Fitzpatrick, William Durkan, Evie Sammon, Ivan Keatley, Fintan Brett, Donna Phelan, Carmel Kelly, Paul Ward, Angela Feeney, Paula Mulroe, Pádraig McEvoy, Mark Leigh, Aoife Breslin, Bill Clear and Ger Dunne:
That the council updates the elected members with reports, draft designs, works completed and required resources to improve safety on the 10 junctions identified in Phase 1 of the Junction Improvement Programme, which commenced in April 2022. These junctions being Dag Weld’s Cross, Prosperous Village, Allenwood Cross, Firmount Cross, Cloncurry Cross, Bert’s Cross, Perry Street Cross, Watchhouse Cross, Thompson’s Cross and Allen Cross.
REPORT:
Allenwood: Design of signals complete, finalising tender and drawings for consenting phase. Next steps: Complete consenting phase and move to construction.
Prosperous: New school development conditioned to upgrade junction crossing.
Dag Welds: Phase 1 complete, finalising tender and drawings for consenting phase. Phase 2 which entails the introduction of a stagger will require land acquisition and a Part 8 process due to the extent of the scheme. Next Steps: Complete consenting phase and move to construction for Phase 1. Begin engagement with the relevant landowners to discuss land acquisition to allow Phase 2 to progress.
Cloncurry: Project Team to review options report received. Scheme to be developed thereafter however the other junctions (Allenwood, Dag Welds and Watchhouse) will be prioritised.
Firmount: Project Team to review options report received. Scheme to be developed thereafter however the other junctions (Allenwood, Dag Welds and Watchhouse) will be prioritised.
The below motion was raised at the July meeting of the Full Council on 28/07/2025.
Motion: Councillors Peggy O’Dwyer, William Durkan and Brendan Wyse
That the council writes to the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment for a policy on the disposal of large nitrous oxide canisters.
Report: The matter has been discussed at the Environment Strategic Policy Committee, and it might be helpful to provide some background to the issue.
The safe disposal of potentially dangerous nitrous oxide canisters has in recent years become a major issue for the recycling and waste management industry.
The gas is sold legally for medical, industrial and commercial purposes, and is easily obtained online. Revenue has the power to seize canisters of the gas where officers believe they are intended for illicit purposes.
Kildare County Council has no facilities to store and dispose of these canisters, nor are they accepted by locally based waste collection operators for health and safety reasons.
Due to the physical nature of the canister, it is difficult to ascertain if the product is empty or full. Whilst an empty canister is widely recyclable, if gas remains in the container, it may explode if crushed – it cannot be processed through standard recycling facilities.
This issue of disposal is not unique to Kildare and is rather a national issue that requires addressing at a nationwide level.
I would therefore be pleased to support the request to formally write to the Department as outlined in the notice of motion.
Notes: Members agreed to write to the department, with an update on the reply to issue at a later date.
The following was raised for discussion at the May meeting of the Full Kildare County Council on Monday 26/05/2025
Motion: Councillors Fintan Brett, Paul Ward, Brendan Wyse, Tim Durkan, Daragh Fitzpatrick, William Durkan and Kevin Duffy
That the council commits to bi-monthly in person meetings to address and work through Unauthorised Developments with members.
Report: The Executive notes the request from the elected members for a commitment to a bi-monthly in person meeting to address and work through unauthorised developments in the County.
In this regard the growing concerns of the members relating to a significant increase in alleged unauthorised developments throughout the County are shared by the Executive who have initiated a number of processes and procedural improvements with the aim of addressing these concerns, including the development of new IT systems, triaging enforcement cases as received and careful allocation of complaints by matching the complexity and severity of the case in question with the experience and expertise of enforcement team. Indeed, we have also recently supplemented the Planning Enforcement Team in Kildare County Council which now totals 9 full-time staff.
For context, the Planning Enforcement Section carries out its enforcement functions in accordance with the provisions of Part VIII of The Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended. Such provisions are an Executive function of the Local Authority with Schedule 15 section 151 setting out details in regard to the functions to be carried out by a Managers Order including ‘a decision to take legal proceedings’.
The timeframes involved in the enforcement process are set out as follows:
In addition to the above, the members will be aware that Alleged Offenders are provided with 6 months to remedy the unauthorised situation after which recurse to the courts is sought as soon as practicably possible.
Notwithstanding the above referenced improvements, an additional objective of the Planning Enforcement Team is to establish a multi-disciplinary approach, with relevant state agencies, where a shared and collective aim will be to address specific cases of alleged unauthorised development and serial offenders. Such an approach is in the early stages of development with initial engagements providing a positive basis for dealing with specific cases currently in the system. Following on from the above, recent process improvements and measures are also being currently assessed for their potential to inform and supplement the level of information provided to the members through the monthly CE Reports. Such information and statistics may include details in regard to New Consultations/Cases, the number of cases closed, enforcement notices served, warning letters served, and cases referred to solicitors for review and legal proceedings.
Noting the above and the significant workload of the Planning Team, the members will recall the Planning Functions Briefing for full council that was held in early 2025 whichoutlined the processes and procedures involved in all aspects of the planning function including enforcement process as well as a number of case examples and timelines.
This initial briefing was a resounding success and as such, and in light of this motion, the Planning Department are agreeable to engage with the members through a further briefing. It should be noted however that while specifics relating to alleged unauthorised development files cannot be discussed, updates in regard to the status of active cases from a broad perspective can be provided.
Note: Based on discussions in relation to this motion, it is expected that the executive will meet with Councillors in the coming month(s) to further discuss approaches to this topic.
The following motion was raised at the March Full Council meeting on 31.03.25.
Motion: Councillor William Durkan
That the council extends the eligible works under the Housing Aid for Older People Grant to include the provision of external security lighting.
Report: The Housing Aid for Older People Grant Scheme is available to assist older
people living in poor housing conditions to have necessary repairs or improvements
carried out to their homes, it provides financial assistance to households to carry out essential repairs.
On receipt of this motion, the Housing Department contacted the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to enquire if security lighting can be funded, they advised that security lighting is not eligible for funding.
Issued by: A/Director of Services, Housing and Regeneration
Notes: Further discussions highlighted the potential to pursue alternative funding streams at the MD level for localised targeted schemes.
Councillors Brendan Wyse, Lumi Panaite Fahey, William Durkan, Peggy O’Dwyer, Tracey O’Dwyer and Ivan Keatley
Motion: That the council prepares a plan of action, with target timelines for completion, to work in conjunction with the NTA and Local Link to install bus stops with timetables at all bus stop locations for all daily Local Link routes in the county.
Report: The Council has received notification of funding of €500,000 for 2025 from the National Transport Authority for a bus stop enhancement programme. The council has held an initial meeting with the NTA and are awaiting details of the programme and in particular the recoupment process for claims, including expenditure from previous bus stop/shelter programmes. The council welcomes the streamlining of interaction and the clear line of communication with a nominated member of staff from the NTA. Regular progress meetings are scheduled with council staff so that agreement can be reached on a programme of works for 2025 and future years.
In parallel, the council currently holds regular update meetings with the TFI Local Link Kildare South Dublin Manager. Staff are working closely with this Transport Coordination Unit to develop a framework within which the provision of bus stop infrastructure can be most effectively delivered across the county. To that end, the proposed Route 888 is being used to test a new process and consultation which has improved the levels of coordination and cooperation between TFI Local Link and the Council.
Once work has been completed on this working procedure and clarity received from the NTA on procurement processes, then an update and timescale for a rolling programme of implementation works can be developed and shared with members.
Issued by: Ms C Barrett, A/Director of Services, Transport, Mobility and Open Spaces
The below Motions were raised at the January meeting of the Full Council:
Councillors Tracey O Dwyer, William Durkan, Brendan Wyse, Evie Sammon, Peggy O Dwyer, Kevin Duffy, Fintan Brett, Paul Brooks, Lumi Panaite Fahey and Tim Durkan
That Kildare County Council meets with the ESB for the purpose of agreeing a streamlined internal reporting, tracking and payment system to include an agreed turnaround timeline for repairs to public lighting.
Report: The public lighting infrastructure consists of approximately 26,000 public lights. The maintenance of public lighting is contracted to Killaree Lighting Services who are required to address all faults within an agreed timescale. A significant portion of the public lighting infrastructure consists of direct fed lighting where there is no interface between the ESB infrastructure and the Local Authority infrastructure and in these cases the public lighting contractor requires the input of the ESB to repair. Kildare County Council are in communication with the ESB to resolve the ongoing delays in the repair of public lighting faults and will arrange to meet with the ESB again in this regard.
The below Motions were raised at the October 2024 meeting of the Full Council:
Councillor William Durkan
That the council outlines the proportion of existing housing stock that is suitable for tenants with mobility/accessibility issues, how this relates to the proportion of those on Kildare County Council’s housing list that have documented mobility/accessibility concerns, and comment on suitable provision plans moving forward.
Report: In terms of the proportion of existing Kildare County Council housing stock that is adapted for mobility issues, only figures from 2014 are available. Adaptations to Kildare County Council owned properties are carried out through the Disabled Persons Grant Scheme (DPG). Works eligible under the DPG scheme include bathroom adaptations, stairlifts, ramps and the provision of extensions for ground floor living. Below is the number of DPGs completed per year:
Year
DPG’s completed
2014
14
2015
14
2016
31
2017
46
2018
43
2019
56
2020
21
2021
28
2022
48
2023
68
2024 to date
42
Total
411
The National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027 sets out the framework for the delivery of housing for people with a disability through mainstream housing policy. This reflects Government policy that all public services should meet the needs of people with disabilities as an integral part of their function, i.e. mainstreaming of services to people with disabilities. An action of this Strategy required the establishment of Housing Disability Steering Groups and membership in Kildare has senior housing staff, senior staff from the HSE, representatives from local disability advocacy groups and people with lived experience. The Kildare Housing and Disability Strategy 2022-2027 has been prepared and agreed by the Housing Disability Steering Group in accordance with national policy and the vision is to facilitate access for disabled persons to the appropriate range of housing and related support services, delivered in an integrated and sustainable manner, which promotes equality of opportunity, individual choice and independent living.
Kildare County Council’s County Development Plan 2023-2029 is committed to implementing the frameworks for the delivery of housing for disabled people as set out under the ‘National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027’ and identifies actions to ensure all KCC new build housing stock is in compliance with Part M of the Building Regulations, that 10% of acquired housing stock meets the needs of those with a disability and 12% of Kildare County Council new builds are universally designed and to monitor the number of housing acquisitions and new builds and ensure that they meet the needs of those with a disability.
In County Kildare there are currently 3,450* (excluding those in receipt of HAP/RAS) people assessed as needing social housing support. Of the total number, currently 342 applicants have been assessed based of disability needs. Analysis of these applications would further inform the requirements in terms of unit size, location, design and any other specific needs. The table below details the categories of identified need based on information provided at the time of receipt of the housing application. Applications from individuals residing in congregated settings have been discounted from the 342 as they are accounted for separately under Congregated Settings.
Category
Total
Physical
88
Sensory
20
Mental Health
79
Intellectual
155
Total
342
Table 1: Category of Identified Need
Of the 342 identified above, 85 of these are council tenant transfer requests. In the event of a person’s accommodation becoming unsuitable due to disability, priority is given for transfer to a suitable property if available.
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