The new President of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Brendan Foster addressed an audience of more than 500 guests at the Chamber's AGM Dinner in the Intercontinental Hotel last night.
Mr Foster is a partner with Grant Thornton. At yesterday's AGM, the new President questioned whether the division of the county into four separate local authorities remains the best structure for a prosperous Dublin.
While Dublin Chamber is open to the idea of a Directly Elected Mayor office, Foster stressed that any such structure must have the right remit and the right powers.
Speaking at the Dinner, Mr Foster said, "We need to get serious about how we run our city. Is Dublin best-served by being divided into four local authorities? Let’s remember that the division of the county was introduced for historical, and perhaps political, reasons back in 1994. Now is a good time to re-think whether these reasons remain relevant today for our city and county. We have been talking for years about how joined up thinking is what Dublin badly needs. In fact, the division of the county works against such kind of kind of joined-up thinking."
He added, "Businesses are the largest funders of local government in Dublin city, and they have been over the last 5 years. This year alone, businesses will contribute over €635 million in commercial rates for the benefit of the Dublin Region. Unfortunately, there is a very weak sense of Value for Money for this contribution. Almost three quarter, of businesses recently surveyed by the Chamber say that they do not know what their commercial rates are used for. Of those who do know, only a third of them think they get value for money. This must be addressed."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
