October marked an important advocacy month for Dublin Chamber, with the highlight being our Annual Dinner 2024 at the RDS. At the dinner, Dublin Chamber President, Siobhan O’Shea, addressed Tánaiste Micheál Martin, along with Ministers Darragh O’ Brien, Jack Chambers, Dara Callery, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and other Oireachtas members and department officials. In her keynote address, the President highlighted the urgent need to tackle the City’s critical infrastructure challenges in housing, public transport, water and wastewater systems, and energy. She called for half of all new homes built annually to be located in the Greater Dublin Area and pressed for the Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project and Dublin Drainage Scheme to be completed within the next government’s term. The Chamber President also stressed the need to fast-track public transport and energy projects and urged for the removal of the 32 million passenger cap at Dublin Airport. She concluded her address by calling on the next government to prioritise people, ensuring that Dublin remains a safe and attractive place to live, work and do business. The speech can be read in full here.

Following our pre-Budget lobby over the summer break, Dublin Chamber was pleased to see our advocacy delivering results on Budget Day. The government’s focus on capital infrastructure, as well as public safety and employment, certainly align with our priorities outlined in our pre-Budget submission. We welcome the government’s commitment to invest the proceeds of the European Court of Justice decision on ‘infrastructure essentials’, with ringfenced funding secured for water, wastewater and electricity grid infrastructure. Additionally, we are encouraged by the announcement of 1,000 extra Gardaí and 150 additional Garda Civilian staff to tackle the rising issue of safety on our streets. Read our response to Budget 2025 in our press release here.

In addition to the above, Dublin Chamber welcomed Sinn Féin’s Housing Spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin TD, to address members on the party’s new housing plan, A Home of Your Own. The meeting generated good discussion on a topic that is vitally important to Dublin’s business community, with housing ranked as the number one General Election priority for more than half of Dublin businesses. Dublin Chamber will continue to engage with representatives from across all parties in the lead up to the General Election, ensuring that the business community’s priorities are clearly communicated to and understood by all key players.

This month, Dublin Chamber also brought its council members to the Mansion House for a networking reception hosted by Dublin Lord Mayor, James Geoghegan. The evening fostered important discussions between Dublin Chamber’s council members and elected officials from Dublin City Council, with public safety, a pressing issue for Dublin businesses, at the forefront. We emphasised to need for continued investment and delivery in the public realm, including better lighting and cleaner streets to improve safety in the City.

This week, the Dublin City Taskforce, chaired by David McRedmond, published its much-anticipated findings which are aimed at improving the City as a place to live, work and visit. After engaging with the taskforce chair over the summer break to highlight the key areas of concern for Dublin businesses, Dublin Chamber is pleased to see that the report incorporates some of our core recommendations, including increasing Garda presence on the streets of Dublin City. However, we have noted that the real test will lie in ensuring that the recommendations are implemented in full and appropriately funded. Read our press release here.