Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I welcome this important Private Members' motion from the Labour Party. It is not only important for the residents of the affected areas but for the future of Dublin's local authorities and Ireland's social housing plans. The recent collapse of the five urban regeneration projects in Dublin has shown up a failure predicted by many when the State decided to use public private partnerships to deliver social housing. When the recent collapse was announced I, along with several other Members, raised concerns and hoped the Government would step in as a matter of urgency to give some hope to those affected. That hope has not yet come from the Government benches.

It is worth noting €6 million has already been spent by Dublin City Council in preparation for the agreed re-development projects, only one of which McNamara developers intends to proceed with. Dublin City Council did not have €6 million to waste, which is a matter of concern. If the Government had examined another method to deliver social housing, that €6 million could have been better used.

Public private partnership has absolutely failed to deliver regeneration in Dublin city. It is absolutely astonishing that the Government has not re-evaluated the future of PPPs in light of recent experiences including those of communities in St. Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens, Sean McDermott Street, Dominick Street, Infirmary Road and in other areas which were sitting waiting for regeneration processes to begin. At this stage that needs to happen quickly. I gave a figure of €6 million spent by Dublin City Council. No figure has been put on the thousands, if not millions, of community and voluntary hours spent by residents in preparation, through negotiation and consultation, for the regeneration of their areas. Of course, no financial figure can be put on the loss of hope experienced by thousands of mothers and fathers in all of these communities, who simply wanted to rear their children in decent homes, with proper facilities.

Councillor Christy Burke, one of my colleagues in the north inner city, related earlier to me how one resident reflected her experiences to him today. The resident, Nadine, from O'Devaney Gardens, may be in the Public Gallery. She captured well the experience of quite a number of residents who have had similar experiences, as relayed to me. Her son was four when she began to talk to him of the hope of new facilities, a new home and a better future. Her child is now 14, indicating how much time that community has invested in the O'Devaney Gardens regeneration project. What age will he be when eventually O'Devaney Gardens is redeveloped and regenerated?

Following a proposal last week from the same colleague, Councillor Christy Burke, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, urban renewal and development, Deputy Michael Finneran, agreed to meet with Dublin city councillors to discuss the latest crisis as regards the delivery of social and affordable housing for the city. The Minister of State has not confirmed when this meeting will take place. It is imperative that it happens within the next two weeks. If it occurs any later it is unacceptable and will suggest the Minister of State is not taking seriously his responsibility for delivering urban housing to those most in need. It is strange it has not happened by now, as it should have within days of the collapse of these PPPs.

The withdrawal of McNamara Construction from these contracts has caused a crisis within the communities that were due for regeneration. A key factor in the crisis is that the Government has allowed this to happen by attempting to privatise functions which were essentially the responsibility of the State, through local authorities such as Dublin City Council. The five communities at the centre of the McNamara fiasco — we can add Finglas village — are not the only ones affected by these actions. We have yet to see the ramifications for the communities who have long awaited delivery on the promise of regeneration programmes. The Government should now do the decent thing and give a commitment to underwrite five projects to renew confidence in the affected communities, stimulate the construction industry in the city and deliver promised social and affordable housing to areas of disadvantage that gained nothing from the Celtic tiger. It must take charge of the five projects and ensure the much needed social and affordable housing is delivered, as well as the rest of the promised regeneration. It was more than a question of redeveloping various flat complexes, it was about the regeneration of whole areas.

We in Sinn Féin have consistently called on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan and the Taoiseach to visit these areas and talk to residents to see for themselves the devastating effects these failed PPP enterprises have caused. To my knowledge none of the aforementioned has bothered to visit any of the complexes affected and that is a disgrace. The residents are still waiting and would wish to see the Ministers concerned bright and early tomorrow morning, if they are willing to bother their arse. I have visited a number of other communities as well which were promised that they were next in line — St. Teresa's Gardens, Dolphin House, Charlemont Street and others that are planning regeneration. The concern in those communities, also, is that the failure will affect their promised regeneration programmes. They are downhearted and need Government and Dublin City Council management to boost their confidence in regeneration processes.

We have consistently warned that developing social housing using PPPs was not a viable option. Private developers have no interest in catering for social need and are merely concerned with how the market will boost their profits. That is their job, but it is not ours to supply them with valuable sites where they can cream off land that should have been allocated for social housing. This charade has gone on for too long and the Government needs to recognise it. Social housing units will not be built by themselves. It is an insult to the people of those areas designated for regeneration that they should be left in unsuitable, inappropriate and inadequate accommodation for a non-specific period into the future while their promised homes await completion — or even start-up.

In Dominick Street this morning I was told some 18 bedsits were still occupied there. Bedsits are supposed to be illegal at this stage, yet Dublin City Council is still housing people in them who had hoped they would have new homes in the future. I presume many people are in bedsits in other areas as well that were earmarked for regeneration. If one lives in St. Michael's Estate, Inchicore one must wait and see whether one's home will ever be built. One looks out at the wasteland in front of the flats and prays that maybe sometime somebody will wake up and see the light. Many of those people are living in near-empty blocks at this stage, and I urge the Minister of State to take the time, even just driving by if he is too busy, to look out the car window and he will see what I am talking about.

Regeneration was flagged as the answer to all the problems within certain communities who received nothing from the Celtic tiger. We were told, to a fanfare of announcements on regeneration projects, that the Government was finally addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged areas. Now the Celtic tiger has drawn its last breath, and the most vulnerable in society are again the first to lose out. Intended was not just a regeneration of buildings or flats, but the redevelopment of whole communities, and in particular the giving of hope and proper futures to the children within them. The Government should, as a matter of urgent priority, change the policy to ensure PPPs are no longer used to provide social housing. It does not work. All the PPPs suggest there is failure by successive Governments in using the resources provided by the recent economic growth for social programmes that serve the population. Instead, they have given a large proportion of those resources back to the corporations and wealthy developers and now regeneration communities are being forced to shoulder the burden of the failure of this policy. The developer never carries any risk attached to the project, as can be seen by the fact that McNamara can walk away from this unscathed and take up other Government projects, which are nice and profitable, such as building prisons. That says it all.

PPPs are inefficient and more expensive, yet the Government is willing to pay for the building of prisons under this process, but not for social housing. This debacle shows that privatisation is at the core of the Government agenda. PPPs are always a "buy now, pay later" deal. Without fail, they are more expensive. The Government can always borrow at better rates than the private sector, so what is the purpose of PPPs, other than to ensure that the people who bankroll the policy makers in these parties ultimately get a better deal?

On a positive note, there is a solution. The Government can set up regeneration companies, underwritten by the State. It was stated that it would cost €900 million to proceed with all five projects. Those projects were to supply nearly 500 social units, more than 1,000 private units and several hundred affordable units, with ancillary services, shops, community centres and local council offices. A State company or city council company could build and sell the private and affordable homes, recouping the social housing cost from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which would have to foot that bill in any event if we were to tackle the housing crisis in this city. Such housing provision would succeed in creating employment for hundreds if not thousands of construction workers for up to five years, thus keeping vulnerable skilled workers off the dole queues, stimulating a flagging industry and providing a gain in terms of tax returns from those who pay PRSI and PAYE.

If one were to combine the net return to the State from such tax returns, the foregone dole payments and the proceeds from the sale of private apartments, that figure would add up to nearly, or more than, the original figure of €900 million. That is a business proposition for the Minister to consider to get the Government out of the hole it dug for itself when it agreed to go down the PPP route. The Minister must seriously consider that proposition because I cannot envisage any other proposal in this regard, other than the State reinvolving itself in a social housing project and giving the necessary money to Dublin City Council or some other social housing provider to deal with what it was meant to do.

Vision is needed to deliver for the communities that the Government has let down. Mr. McNamara can walk away. I am not putting any faith in him and I am not blaming him. He is a greedy developer, as are most developers. The Government and Dublin City Council supported him in this regard and, therefore, the Government must act and underwrite these projects. The people of Dublin cannot be left in limbo during the summer months. The Government must act and it must do so today.

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