Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister of State cares to take a walk down Moore Street and the lanes running between the GPO and Moore Streets, he will note that it is an area in total crisis in which Moore Street, as a vibrant street market, and the traders who have traded inter-generationally there are on their last legs. A great deal of work was done by a diverse group, ranging from relatives of the 1916 leaders to those with an interest in the architecture and in the revitalisation of this important part of the city, and all the public bodies and authorities.

As a former Tánaiste, I find it shocking that this report has not been brought to the Cabinet. That is what my question is about. For instance, the new Taoiseach has not seen this report. Maybe he has read about it in the newspapers but he certainly has not seen it, as an outgoing member of the Cabinet and the incoming Taoiseach.

We have to take our opportunities. In Donegal the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, has to do so in relation to tourism, commemorations, etc. There is enormous scope for the development of the whole Moore Street area in a way in which other cities across Europe have done that combines history with a vibrant agricultural and produce market and that gives a future to the traders also However, that will start with not only those who wrote the report but the Cabinet having ownership of the report.

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