Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Minister here. I thank him for coming. At the very outset, I note that we are all conscious and aware of the living streets initiatives, as is the Minister. I think they are excellent. We need to enliven our streets. One of the good things about the Covid pandemic was that we utilised our open public realm well. Much of that came down to unintended consequences. I am very conscious of Malahide. I often commute out there from Monkstown on a Sunday. It is a very lively place, albeit that one goes down the road at a 45° angle. There was a lot of controversy about that at the time but it seems to have bedded down. I see what it has done to the Minister's own neighbourhood and what is happening in mine.

I will just make a few observations. One is that, having been a director of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind for many years, I know there are difficulties in that regard. Second, I have not found Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, my own local authority, of which I was a member and in whose area I live, supportive. I raised many issues with the council and while it acknowledged them and said it would look into them, it did sweet damn all. I am disappointed to have to put that on the public record here. There are obstacles for elderly people, people with disabilities and young children. The gambit in terms of accessibility is a bit of a problem. We have streets where people cannot get by. We have traders who are extending beyond their remit and into the footpaths so that people cannot get past. We have a major difficulty here and it is not good enough. I have come together with a number of disability groups to lead a delegation to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council because we are unhappy. I have raised this with all of the TDs in that constituency. Many of them are champions of the disability sector.

We welcome the use of the public realm. The Minister touched on something that is very interesting, the temporary nature and scruffiness of many of these hoardings. On Baggot Street, I see broken down bits of boxes and unwatered plants. I see things that have been abandoned. A circular needs to go out to the local authorities to tell them the standard that is expected. We are talking about putting up temporary platforms, timbers and so on so it does need to be cleaned up. There really needs to be better monitoring because, if we were to follow up and seek statistics as regards public liability insurance claims related to these temporary structures, something I initiated last week, I believe we would be quite shocked. The local authorities and their chief executives have a duty of care as regards public liability insurance claims. Such claims are going to come about as a result of badly constructed temporary platforms.

The big issue I am here today about is people with disabilities, young people, elderly people and senior citizens negotiating these areas, particularly in some of the smaller villages. I support the initiative and recognise that trade needs to be extended.

I will make a final point. I spoke to a woman who has been living over a shop with her husband for the last 60 years. She told me that she has to endure nothing but music from boxes on the wall until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. This is in a very affluent little village in south County Dublin. She has been verbally abused by the traders when asking them to turn the music down. It is all associated with this outside public realm stuff. We need to look at regulations. I do not want to over-regulate the sector but, at a time when we are promoting living over shops and living in our towns and village, it is not unreasonable for people to expect to go to bed at a reasonable time. There is smoking going on in these places, with the smoke coming up to their bedrooms in draughts. There is noise. They have to confront bottles, alcohol and dirt. I will finish by saying that, in this circular, we also need to cover how waste management is dealt with so that the issue of private sector bottles, food and rubbish being dumped in public bins in the public realm is addressed. I support the initiative but we need to tweak it and to address some of those concerns. I thank the Minister very much.