Proposal to record Limerick council meetings rejected following split vote
As it currently stands, any member of the public can attend statutory meetings in person and can they can also request access to view meetings online as they are taking place
ELECTED members of the local authority have rejected proposals to allow for the recording of council meetings, which would have given members of the public on-demand access to proceedings.
However, a motion to provide unrestricted access to a livestream of plenary meetings of Limerick City and County Council was passed following a split vote.
The decision follows months of over-and-back between elected councillors, Mayor John Moran, and members of the executive.
As it currently stands, any member of the public can attend statutory meetings in person and can they can also request access to view meetings online as they are taking place.
However, in order to do this, they must contact the local authority and request a link at least one working day in advance of the meeting.
At the July meeting of the council, a motion seeking to have all statutory meetings livestreamed and recorded was defeated.
Mayor Moran, who supports such a move, brought the motion after a decision was previously deferred at a special meeting which took place in May.
Ahead of the July meeting, a report was circulated to elected members which outlined the cost of livestreaming and recording meetings in City Hall, County and at the three areas offices would be in the region of €65,000 annum including VAT.
The report found there are around 251 hours of council meetings in any one year and it recommended that “unredacted recordings” would be retained in the event of any editing of the recorded videos.
When the motion was raised for discussion, Councillor John Sheahan immediately asked for a ten minute adjournment to speak with the Mayor about information circulated in advance of the meeting.
Councillor Michael Collins seconded this, saying that he would also like to be involved in that discussion.
All party leaders were then invited to join the private conversation.
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On his return to the council chamber, Mayor Moran proposed that “the motion that is on the floor be replaced, essentially, by two motions”.
He proposed that a vote would first be held to both livestream and record the full council meetings, with the recordings being published no later than five days after each meeting.
If that was defeated, a vote would be held on livestreaming alone.
There was a lengthy discussion about how to legally hold the votes under standing orders.
Cllr Sheahan said that they went for a party leaders meeting to clarify the issue, but that it was “being made more complicated now,” insisting: “Put the vote to the floor.”
“I don’t care who pays for it, I don’t care what happens with it,” he added, insisting that they move along with the vote.
“All we need here is a bit of good will,” he continued, asking that all amendments be withdrawn, saying that they then would have “a clean sheet” and that the two new proposals could then be brought to the floor.
“‘Tis as simple as that lads, and if ye want to make a big hoo-ha about it, which we tried to bypass, but ye’re fair good at making it awkward.”
Councillor Bridie Collins withdrew her amendment, which sought to removed the word “recording” from the motion.
Confusion followed regarding the order and structure of how the votes should take place, with Cllr Collins saying: “Sorry to be a pain in the neck, but is this allowed under standing orders? That’s what I need to know.”
Príomh-Chomhairleoir, Councillor Tom Ruddle, said: “Come on, look, we want to get this moving.”
Meetings administrator Ciara Farrell clarified: “We’ve asked for two votes, both have been proposed and seconded. The first one is on livestreaming and recording for the plenary meetings, and the second one is for livestreaming only, and that will replace the first one in the event that’s passed.”
The first motion, to both livestream and record, was defeated by a vote of 26 to 12 while the second motion, to introduce unrestricted livestreams, was then unanimously passed.
The decision only relates to meetings of the full council, meaning each local municipal district and strategic policy committee are free to make their own decision.
Following the vote, Cllr Sheahan proposed that the council write to the Minister for Housing and Local Government asking that he “extend full privilege that’s enjoyed by our Oireachtas members to all 950 councillors”.
Cllr Collins seconded this proposal.