Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the selection of this issue for debate. I am sorry that the line Minister is not here on this occasion. I think anybody in this House knows Dundrum Town Centre. It is the most modern shopping centre and has the largest footfall in the country. It is the subject of a Project Jewel sale by NAMA. There are three entities on the fifth floor of Dundrum Town Centre that provide hugely valuable community services. The first is Dublin South 93.9FM Community Radio, which has been in operation for 30 years. It has a staff of 13, the majority of whom are community employment scheme employees. It broadcasts to a listenership of 12,000, has approximately 1,000 contributors and covers the gamut of life, including community life and services and political discussion. Dundrum Adult Training and Education is another occupant of the fifth floor. It provides 54 classes to approximately 600 learners aged 18 to 90 who have prepaid for the current session from the middle of September so there are financial commitments and commitments in terms of providing classes. Finally, Dundrum Citizens Information Centre answers in the region of 6,000 queries from citizens every year and has been in existence for almost 40 years. President Higgins visited Dundrum Adult Training and Education this year.

On 24 September 2015, letters were received by Dundrum Citizens Information Centre and Dublin South 93.9FM Community Radio telling them they had four weeks to quit. That is uncivil in any developed society, particularly when so many people are involved. If one adds them up, approximately 18,600 people - between listeners to the radio station, people taking classes and citizens coming for information, advice and advocacy services on a range of issues - will be directly affected by what is happening. A total of 25 local volunteers man that high-quality service.

Part of the planning permission for Dundrum Town Centre was that there would be 2,700 sq. m of facilities for a crèche, a performance arts area and areas for community groups. It is the fifth floor of the shopping centre that provides the facilities I am talking about here. It is just not right that in a modern civilised society, firms of solicitors can do this because of a unilateral decision of the town centre management acting on behalf of Crossridge Investments Limited. It is not on. When they asked me what I would do, I said that, first of all, I would not move and, second, I would be there to help them to stage a lock-in if it came to that.

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