Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. The fact that three Deputies are combining to speak on this issue reflects its importance and the very real concerns about the regeneration process in the areas affected. The regeneration of estates is a key element of the Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, and more than €120 million has been provided from the Exchequer in 2008 to aid this process. This is in addition to funding from the private sector and from local authorities' own resources.

I remind the house that Dublin City is a very active and successful authority in terms of regeneration. The Deputies will be aware of Dublin City Council's track record in the successful regeneration of inner city flats complexes as well as its role in overseeing the substantial regeneration programme under way in Ballymun. The Ballymun regeneration project itself, which was the subject of a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, is one of the largest developments in the State and has been brought about through a combination of public and private money, construction expertise and management skills.

We should not forget the contribution to regeneration arising from the work of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, which has so visibly transformed the inner city of Dublin. The Fatima Mansions regeneration project is nearing conclusion and is a clear demonstration of Dublin City Council's successful implementation of the public private partnership model. The project involved the demolition of 364 largely vacant flats and will deliver 150 new local authority homes, 70 affordable homes and 395 homes for sale on the private market. The redevelopment also includes enterprise space, a community centre, commercial space, a leisure centre and general infrastructural and landscaping works.

Public private partnerships are part of a range of options used by Dublin City Council to renew and regenerate its social housing estates and provide new social and affordable housing in the city. PPPs are a way of promoting sustainable development by encouraging social, income and tenure mix in an economically efficient way. The partnership model is based upon Dublin City Council optimising the use of its existing land holdings to leverage private finance. The developer in turn provides the local authority with an agreed number of social and-or affordable housing units and funds the overall development in whole or in part from the sale of the housing units to the general public.

It is important to note that public private partnerships are by no means the only mechanism being employed by Dublin City Council to advance its ambitious social and affordable housing programme. Significant Exchequer resources are also being provided and the council was recently allocated more than €250 million from the 2008 social housing investment programme, including €65 million for the regeneration of Ballymun. In the past five years, Dublin City Council has completed more than 3,000 social housing units outside of the regeneration programme and Ballymun.

On Monday, 19 May 2008, Dublin City Council announced that its PPP regeneration projects with Castlethorn-McNamara in St. Michael's estate and O'Devaney Gardens and with McNamara on Dominick Street, Convent Lands in Seán McDermott Street and Infirmary Road would not go ahead as planned. The current economic climate and the substantial changes that have recently occurred in the residential housing sector have, according to the developers, rendered these projects non-viable. The council is working with its tenants to explore options for regenerating the five areas affected by the announcement. It will meet the three regeneration boards involved in St. Michael's estate, O'Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street to explore all options and to consider alternative plans to deliver the social housing needed in those areas. The original apartment blocks in St. Michael's estate containing 346 flats are substantially vacated, with 23 families remaining. The immediate priority will be to ensure that this process will continue and new homes will be found for the remaining families, pending the area's regeneration. Further physical work is scheduled in O'Devaney Gardens where four vacant blocks are due for demolition.

The next step is for Dublin City Council to examine all of the social, economic and legal implications of the recent announcements and to table alternative proposals so that the regeneration process can proceed. It is important to remember that procurement processes are under way in respect of other PPP projects in other areas of the city, which will help in informing the way forward. My Department will actively engage with the council in terms of alternative proposals for the projects. It will also consider the wider implications, if any, for the approach to PPPs generally. At this point, it is too early to try to detail the factors that have led to this situation, beyond noting the obvious fact that market conditions have changed significantly in the past six months. However, this matter must be examined in depth to allow my Department to consider the wider implications for the PPP regeneration programme as a whole. What is clear is that we will still need private enterprise, in whatever form it takes, to help build sustainable mixed communities. There is no going back to the era of large mono-tenure social housing estates, with all of the consequential concentration of economic and social deprivation.

All the options for progressing the projects raised by Deputies are being examined by Dublin City Council. I assure the Deputies that my Department will continue to engage with the council actively with a view to moving these projects forward as quickly as possible. As someone who worked for many years with the Dublin health authority, I know the areas well. It is my intention to visit the different locations during the coming days and weeks.

See this speech in context