Criticism of councillors who do not take part in debate or votes

A Tallaght councillor has criticised his fellow elected members who attend meetings by video call but do not take part in debate or votes.

Cllr Patrick Holohan (Ind) raised the issue following a vote by councillors during the Tallaght Area Committee meeting.

Councillors in attendance, both online and in chamber, had just taken a roll call vote on a motion from Cllr Mick Duff (Ind) asking the council to remove tricolour flags erected without permission on light poles on Greenhills Road.

Ten of the eleven councillors for Tallaght were present during the meeting, with six of them present in the council chamber in County Hall and four attending remotely by video link (nine had been marked present during roll call at the start of the meeting, while another councillor joined the meeting remotely later during proceedings).

During the vote on Cllr Duff’s motion, two abstained, two voted for and five voted against the motion, but one of the four councillors attending remotely did not vote or speak at all during the roll call vote.

Cllr Holohan, who was attending in person, called attention to this, stating there was “no fourth option” for taking part in council votes.

“If people are online and being paid to be in this meeting here today, there’s not four options, you vote for, against or abstain,” he said, adding that councillors who attend online still need to take part.

“You need to be voting; there’s no option in our standing orders that says that you can stay silent.”

Cllr Holohan noted that this had been an issue previously at remote meetings during Covid, but that it had also happened during meetings in November.

“We drove here today and we don’t have a choice to stay silent,” he added, gesturing to the councillors sitting around the chamber.

Committee chair Cllr Louise Dunne (SF) said that she agreed with Cllr Holohan and read from the council’s standing orders, which confirm that councillors must vote for or against a motion during a vote, or register their wish to abstain.

“When there is a roll call taken a member must be present when they are called to vote otherwise their vote is not recorded,” she read.

Cllr Niamh Whelan (SF) noted as a point of order that Cllr Holohan could bring a motion to “try and change things like this happening because it clearly happens all the time”.

“You can bring a motion and I’m sure you’d get a good bit of support on it if you wanted to change that,” she said.

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