John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)

I wish the Minister of State the best of luck in her new portfolio. I know her experience of regeneration in Limerick will be of benefit in her work in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The Ballymun project of the 1960s fell approximately 10% short of total completion for various reasons, leading to many of the problems experienced in Ballymun over the years. People who know the Ballymun of the past will know it was synonymous with horses, "Into the West" and so on. This has in many ways stuck with it.

I remind the Minister of State that it was a Labour Party Minister in Government who in 1997 wrote the cheque to commence the largest urban regeneration project in Europe, namely, Ballymun Regeneration Limited, BRL. This project is almost complete. Some 15 years on, 1,600 new homes and 1,400 private units have been built. The Minister of State's Department gave a further €4.6 million prior to Christmas for continuation of this work, which is appreciated. The final 10% of this project remains to be completed. I appeal to the Minister of State to ensure we learn from our mistakes of the past. The last 10% is important. It is not just the icing on the cake: it is the final piece of the jigsaw which completes the project. Without it, the regeneration programme will not be complete. Infrastructure in respect of one particular housing unit, Sillogue 9 comprising 48 units, remains to be completed. Part of this infrastructure will ensure some of the sites which will not be developed will be shovel ready for when an upturn in the economy comes.

We must ensure that young children who grew up on what is a building site will have the facilities to allow them continue to live in a thriving and viable successful community. I ask that the Minister of State and Department take this into account. Without completion of the final 10% of this project, it will be a disappointing regeneration programme.

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