Council to spend up to €214,000 to upgrade multi-media equipment
By Maurice Garvey
SOUTH Dublin County Council are preparing to spend up to €214,000 for an upgrade of multi-media equipment, which will see the implementation of webcasting.
According to tender documents, the estimated value of the contract will be between €125,000 and €214,000 over the course of a nine year period.
South Dublin County Council are upgrading their multi-media equipment
South Dublin County Council is the only local authority in Dublin not to use a webcasting system – which allows the general public and media to watch full council and local area meetings.
Back in 2017, members voted against a proposal to install webcasting by 15-9, with 16 councillors not in attendance for the vote at the OPF finance meeting.
Money was cited as a determining factor at the time.
Mayor of South Dublin Ed O’Brien said the spend was agreed a number of years ago before Covid-19 restrictions started to impact local authority finances.
However, he believes it is “crucial for the transparency of local government that our meetings are as accessible as possible” and more important now that Covid has limited public opportunities to attend meetings in person.
The planned new ‘Delegate Conference and Audio-Visual System’ is to provide microphone discussion, electronic voting and automatic camera control for 40 councillors and 10 council officials.
The council said: “To ensure compliance with public procurement guidelines, the council has advertised for necessary upgrades to the Council Chamber, including maintenance of equipment.
“As stated in the tender documents, the estimated value of the contract will be between €125,000 and €214,000 over the course of a nine year period.
“The provision of this video conferencing capability will bring South Dublin County Council in line with other local authorities. The introduction of webcasting has been agreed and will be progressed when public health restrictions are lifted.”
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