Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have all learned something.

As I rise, I feel like a person in the early Alzheimer's advertisement, which asks whether the person keeps asking the same question again and again and again. This matter has arisen again and again and again during our sessions with the Minister. He has indicated to the House that he intends to consider the request for consent, but we have reached the point of urgency with the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street. We all appreciate the site's importance. It is in a state of advanced decay and I understand that the Minister gave his consent to emergency works being carried out in February. I also understand that, when a number of Deputies visited the area in the course of the past week or two, they were refused access because of the state of the buildings.

Dublin City Council has advised the Minister against giving consent for the proposed works. My colleague, Councillor Mary Fitzpatrick has been campaigning on the council for Moore Street's restoration and broader works of a positive nature in the north O'Connell Street area.

Can we please inject a level of urgency into this issue? While it does not all rest with the Minister, will he move forward urgently with his area of responsibility so that we do not need to raise these questions again and the Department can be seen to be taking action?

See this speech in context