Labour¿s record in local authority planning was contrasted with the performance of other parties today by deputy leader, Joan Burton, in comments on the two-year prison sentence imposed on former government press secretary Frank Dunlop.
¿I¿m proud to say that the Labour Party, or any member of the Labour Party has never been up before any of the tribunals in relation to corruption, in relation to zoning. In fact the Labour Party has a proud record of fighting against the kind of corruption that unfortunately Frank Dunlop, Fianna Fáil and a lot of people who served on the council from Fine Gael came to exemplify during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
¿And in particular I think it¿s important to dwell on what the judge had to say, in sentencing Frank Dunlop, that it¿s not a victimless crime. The Labour Party represents communities all over Dublin who have had to pay the price in higher mortgages, exorbitant land prices and in communities that have no schools, no community centres, because the profit went to developers and their agents and their allies in the political parties who robbed people of what should have been communities with facilities.¿
Speaking at the launch of ¿A Fair Deal for a Fair City¿, Labour¿s Dublin Manifesto for the June 5th elections, Ms Burton expressed doubts that the Green Party proposal for a directly elected Dublin mayor would ever be implemented
¿We are not convinced that this will actually happen,¿ Ms Burton told reporters at an open-air news conference at the Millennium Bridge over the River Liffey.
¿Other than some indications, perhaps, of interest by Bertie Ahern, I haven¿t heard Fianna Fail people rushing to embrace the idea anytime soon,¿ Labour¿s deputy leader said.
¿If there is to be an executive lord mayor, it has to be a mayoralty with real powers and, at the moment, city and county managers have such strong powers that elected representatives¿ powers are relatively curtailed, so we want to see real power.
¿There are proposals in addition that such an elective office would probably carry fairly significant salary entitlements and expense entitlements," she said.
¿We don¿t think that at this point in time there should be, if you like, additional salaried offices in the State unless there is a curtailment in relation to other areas.
¿In other words, it shouldn¿t be an additional burden on the taxpayer. And again, that¿s not something that has been worked out as yet,¿ she said.
Asked who the Labour candidate for such an office might be, she replied: ¿We haven¿t even discussed it, because we are not convinced that this will actually happen.¿
But she added: "There are lots of Labour Party people who have been involved in city government down the years.¿
Labour¿s Dublin Manifesto includes proposals for a Dublin Loyalty Card to stimulate consumer demand; keeping colleges of further education open during the summer months to train the unemployed; and a new cultural quarter at the top of O¿Connell Street.¿
Senator Ivana Bacik, who is running for Labour in the Dublin Central byelection, said: ¿We¿re finding across Dublin Central that one of the biggest issues, which is a national issue as well as a local one, is the jobs issue of course. But there is also an issue about school premises: there¿s been a real problem with planning and development that has been speculator-led, rather than sustainable development for communities.¿
Senator Alex White, Labour candidate in Dublin South, said there had been "very little planning for communities" in his constituency. "And now you¿ve got deficits growing up in school provision, school places, the lack of basic sports and recreation facilities for kids.¿