Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish Michael Stone well in the position to which he has been appointed. There has been a total lack of apprenticeships for young men and women in the north inner city, particularly since the collapse in construction in 2008. The apprenticeships offered by famous educational institutions in the north inner city have always represented an important educational transit point in that area, especially for those moving onto further education. I refer, for example, to DIT Bolton Street, which has a whole school of apprenticeship. If the Taoiseach is chairing this committee, I strongly recommend that he should go to the Linenhall building in Bolton Street to look at what can be done successfully for young people who want to do apprenticeships rather than staying in school. Many such people choose not to stay in school because it has been a negative experience or because their family circumstances do not provide for it. Some of the most qualified engineers in our society came from places like the school of trades in Bolton Street and its counterpart on Kevin Street on the south side. In addition to inventing new solutions, we need to use some of the existing resources we have. When I spoke to some of the staff members two weeks ago, they told me they can hardly talk to anybody in government.

I would like to make another point about these plans. Large parts of the north inner city are filthy. I listened with great joy to yesterday's announcement that various towns, villages and suburbs in different parts of Dublin had won prizes in the Tidy Towns competition. If we are to reinvigorate the north inner city and give concrete opportunities to those who live there, Dublin City Council must respect the places where people are living by helping to clean them up. We have to address the casual dumping of litter, which is one of the most debilitating things for the self-image of a community. Deputy McDonald spoke about how old some of the blocks of flats are. People like living in the north inner city. As Deputy Calleary said, the people there are very friendly and very positive. The local authorities are not sufficiently respecting the people who live in the north inner city by improving their environment to the point where those who have pride in their homes can have pride in the overall city centre as well. Many of those who are paying property tax ask me all the time what they are getting for it and why they are not getting clean streets.

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