Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I regret that the Minister is not present and I must stand in the bearna baol. I will ensure the Deputies' views will be clearly and absolutely brought to the attention of the Minister and his Department.

When Deputy Ross was a Senator, he and I sat on the Joint Committee on Transport, as it was known. We called in representatives from CIE every month for several months to discuss an issue arising from an audit. We found this to be a useful mechanism. I accept totally that this is a short debate and I will not take up too much time with it. We found that bringing in the relevant people before the committee and questioning the auditors was useful. Accountability to an Oireachtas committee can be useful. I am unsure whether that is a helpful suggestion but I will bring the request for a full debate to the attention of the Minister.

The Minister, Deputy Hogan, announced last Thursday that the Government has decided to wind up the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, DDDA. When making the announcement, the Minister emphasised the decision had been made following consideration of a special report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the authority's 2011 annual report and financial statements, both of which were also published last Thursday.

Elements of the special report make for grim reading, especially those relating to the authority's assessment and decision-making processes leading to its decision in 2006 to become involved in the purchase of the former Irish Glass Bottle site, an episode which has cost the authority €52 million, aside from the associated reputational damage. While it is naturally welcome to note the annual report shows the authority having recorded a small surplus, its first in a number of years, the future financial outlook for the authority presents a very different picture.

The reality emerging from both the 2011 financial statements and the special report is that the authority's financial position will inevitably remain very challenging in the short to medium term, given the economic downturn and stressed state of the property market from which the Dublin Docklands Development Authority has historically derived its main revenues.

Taking all of these factors into account, the inescapable conclusion is that a stand-alone authority is no longer viable, financially or otherwise. It is for these reasons that the Government decided that the Dublin Docklands Development Authority should be wound up at the end of a transitional period of up to 18 months. A new executive board, chaired by the Dublin city manager, Mr. John Tierney, has been appointed for this transitional period, during which the authority will finalise some important ongoing business which needs to be brought to completion. In parallel with this, the Government will finalise the appropriate arrangements for ensuring a continued, concerted focus on the Dublin docklands initiative.

It is crucial to note in terms of the concerns raised by the Deputies that while the Dublin Docklands Development Authority is to be wound up, the Government remains fully committed to the ambitious and visionary docklands regeneration concept where many opportunities for renewal remain, both on the north and south sides of the River Liffey. For this reason, the decision to wind up the authority should be seen not as an end of the regeneration story but the closing of one chapter which the Government is committed to ensuring will be followed by the opening of a new chapter in the rebirth of this core area of the capital city, as the Deputies correctly noted.

See this speech in context