Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I support my colleague. I have spent many years in the area on the north side of the Liffey. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority has transformed the lives of people in inner city areas, and not just in respect of housing. There is a new community there that has integrated very successfully with the traditional community. That is solely due to the efforts of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.

The authority is not just involved in housing. It has educational and social programmes and has provided many facilities in the area. These are used by the communities on both sides of the Liffey. The area has experienced tremendous changes. When one sees efforts to denigrate what is probably the most successful regeneration programme the country has ever had, one wonders where we are going. I invite people to visit the docklands on the north and south sides of the Liffey to see the difference. I see it in the children living in these areas. They are now more confident. There was a very bad incident at the weekend and the community is in shock, but the fact that the development authority is there and is involved so closely with the communities strengthens them and ensures there is a future for these children.

We are in a position to assist these areas after many generations of unemployment and deprivation. Children now have an opportunity to finish their schooling, progress to third level education and ultimately have the possibility of a job. That was never the case in these areas previously. For many years they experienced dereliction, unemployment and deprivation. That has changed and that is due to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.

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