Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy John Lahart, whose relations are all from Tipperary and who are good people, who has been instrumental in bringing this Bill forward. I am sure that it is an honest effort by the Deputy and others to do something with this part of Dublin. I listened with interest to the two previous speakers, particularly Deputy O’Sullivan who replaced the late Deputy Tony Gregory who was instrumental in that deal. I remember it well. I was involved in the Soldiers of Destiny at that time. It is a pity to think that the Gregory deal ended after that election and that everything was thrown to the wolves or lions and left there.

The Bill seeks to make provision for the regeneration of the area of Dublin’s north inner city, although I must admit that I am not fully au fait with that part of the city, and for that purpose to provide for the establishment of a body to be known as the Dublin inner city development authority to oversee that regeneration.

There has been regeneration in Limerick and other places which badly need it but, unfortunately, it takes a long time Funding and commitment are needed as well as inter-agency involvement but, most important, the involvement of the community. The daoine óga, as Deputy O’Sullivan observed, comprise such a significant proportion of the population that they must be brought with us. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. They must be brought with us as well as the volunteers and people on the ground.

I recognise that there are many areas of Dublin, particularly in the inner city, that demand immediate attention. We are all aware of the impact of the horrendous gangland feuds that continue to make life a misery for entire communities. They were allowed get far too out of hand. We must be careful in areas such as my own county and that of the Minister of State. Issues relating to drugs and gangs are festering and gaining strength. If they are not dealt with, we will also experience many of these issues.

I am not sure how the gangland issue should be addressed given the recent ban on Garda overtime but perhaps that is a matter for another day. I welcome the new Garda Commissioner and wish him well but the first thing he did was banned overtime. The news reports and spin doctors tell us there is no cut in overtime in Dublin for dealing with these people, and rightly so. They should be followed to the ends of the earth, for 25 hours a day if there were that many hours, and sat on, but we must also think about those who need resources to follow young people who often have connections to these gangs in Dublin. There are certain famous families whose names we all know but we cannot utter their names, like the song “Michael Collins”; while we must respect and nurture young people, these must be rooted out. Yesterday I met a young friend of mine, whose 15 year old has been offered drugs in the form of tablets in her school in Cashel. It is so sad. This is all linked to these gangs, from whom it percolates down to youngsters, people younger than this 15 year old who would offer her those tablets or drugs. It is a lucrative business. It is shocking and it is happening in rural and urban Tipperary.

I raised a similar matter on Leaders' Questions this morning when I referred to a comparative study commissioned by Jobs for Tipp - a new organisation set up to try to something for Tipperary town and west Tipperary of which I am a member - and written by Ms Lisa English. The study compares levels of deprivation in south Tipperary and the north-east inner city of Dublin. The findings are quite startling. I could not believe them. They are truly disturbing. The report indicates that Tipperary east, Tipperary west, Clonmel west and Carrick-on-Suir - which is located quite close to the Minister of State's constituency - all score highest on the Pobal index of deprivation, above some of these places in Dublin. I am not anti-Dublin and i am not trying to take from this Bill. However, we must recognise deprivation wherever it exists, whether it be in urban or rural Tipperary or Dublin's inner city. The report also concludes that the levels of deprivation in the towns of Tipperary, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir are far in excess of those which obtain in inner city Dublin. That is startling. We have excellent communities and volunteer groups in those towns. In Tipperary town, for example, there is the MooreHaven centre for people with disabilities which employs 130 people. We have a wonderful Tipperary co-operative that has remained small and local and that employs more than 100 people. There is also the Canon Hayes community resource centre and the Knockancrawley resource centre. We have a great community involvement in all of these and the spirit of the late great Canon Hayes lives on.

If a special vehicle such as that to which the Bill refers is to be established, as I informed the Taoiseach earlier, we have community people ready and willing to participate. They are doing the work, filling out application forms and looking after those vulnerable communities and assisting them will all kinds of issues ranging from the cradle to the grave. I asked the Taoiseach to approve one option which I believe would demonstrate a real commitment on the Government's part to County Tipperary. It is similar to what Teachta Lahart is trying to do in his Bill in the context of this city.

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, consideration can be given to the creation of a strategic development zone in south and west County Tipperary to help tackle deprivation and to attract small-scale job creation in places such as Tipperary town. It is the same as what is to be found in this city. We have to deal with it and we have to take a focused approach. As we know, such zones have been very successful, as an Teachtaí Maureen O'Sullivan and Lahart would know, in places like Cherrywood and the docklands.

I can certainly see the merits of the proposals contained in this Fianna Fáil Bill introduced by Deputy Lahart. We are seeking ways to create structures that will advance our communities and, in particular, those communities which have consistently levels of high deprivation. It is no different from this city. It is alarming to think that, but there is no difference between the part of this city on which Deputy Lahart's Bill focuses and areas in some of those towns in Tipperary.

We have the community infrastructure in place. The Knockonrawley, Canon Hayes and MooreHaven recreation centres in Tipperary town have been in operation for decades. They have shown us the roadmap of how to look after communities, vulnerable people, those with disabilities and individuals who are poorly educated. There is an excellent school system, both at primary and secondary level, in Tipperary town and Carrick-on-Suir. The Carrick-on-Suir Development Association, CoSDA is a wonderful organisation. It is timely that I speaking on this Bill and support this work in Dublin but I also want a smattering - a smithereen - of the money to go to these designated areas. I am referring to designated areas, not the entire county. We are a proud people in Tipperary. We do not all put out our hands and beg. We want bang for our buck. We want a bit of equality.

Deputy Wallace referred to some of what was done wrong by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. These things go on with the big super quangos. We do not want that. We want ownership of these special vehicles by the community and to have bottom-up development and not to be talking of all those agencies. I am referring to the daoine óige, the volunteers in the communities and the development organisations. I am sure those in Dublin are no different from their counterparts in Tipperary. Deputies Maureen O'Sullivan and Lahart will know of them. They are ordinary people trying to better themselves and make their lives and those of their families a little better despite the horrendous pressure they are under from drug gangs, etc.

We know what NAMA is. I am not happy with what it has done. NAMA controls 75% of the available land in the Dublin City Council area. It should not have that control. It should be disposed of at this stage. NAMA should never have been set up, as far as I am concerned. History books will be written about it and there will be investigations into it. People who has properties in Clonmel that were in NAMA now have them back again and they are laughing all the way to the bank. They will be huge question marks over NAMA when the history of the Minister's time in office and that of his predecessors is written. On the night NAMA was established, I stated that it was like a wild animal - a wild deer - being released into the woods and no one would know where it would end up. We still do not know where NAMA is going to end up and there are major questions about it.

The focus must be on setting up what is proposed in the Bill, which I support, and then to consider extending it to other areas - not only Tipperary, although I have focused on the country - and establish specific task forces to deal with the issues. People will help themselves if they get a bit of cabhrú, a small leg up on the ladder.

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