Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Corr and everyone else for their submissions. Before I open the meeting to questions from other members, I note that although the things that went wrong within the Dublin Docklands Development Authority are often pointed out, its successes are not mentioned often enough. Ms Corr and Mr. Lambe covered some of those successes in their submissions. Certainly, the community came up to the required 20% proportion of social and affordable housing. While that did not achieve the successes the community wanted, it set out a template that could be followed elsewhere. That should be recognised. The local labour clause was also mentioned.

The one thing that has always impressed me is the success achieved by local schools in keeping young people until the leaving certificate. There was a dramatic change in the figures in the schools I know, where fewer than 50% of pupils had previously attended up to leaving certificate level, whereas this year 92% sat the exam. That is one of the successes of the engagement of the local community and the docklands authority. We could speak at length of the failures and disappointments, but we forget too often to mention all the successes. I know many families living in social housing who would not have been living there without the 20% social and affordable clause. It was a greater success on the south side than on the north side. That should be acknowledged also. The template is there to be used again and developed in the current housing crisis.