Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On Christmas Eve 2016, my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, sent correspondence to the Garda; the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald; the then Minister of State with responsibility for communities, Deputy Catherine Byrne; Dublin City Council and the current Tánaiste, who was then Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The correspondence related to the construction of 73 social housing units in Cherry Orchard and informed the Tánaiste and the rest of the recipients that construction had halted on the site following a sustained campaign of intimidation, with building site workers and security staff under threat. He stated it was clear that the intimidation has been orchestrated by criminals who had vowed that no work on any Cherry Orchard site would go ahead unless they get the security contracts or receive moneys from the builder. He continued in the correspondence to the Tánaiste and others by stating:

It is my firm belief that if this work does not progress then we are condemning Cherry Orchard to a future of dereliction and abandonment. No homes or services will be built until this criminality is comprehensively tackled.

Although he made clear that extra Garda resources were essential and requested a meeting before the new year, my colleague received no response from the Tánaiste to the correspondence.

On 5 January 2017, Deputy Ó Snodaigh again wrote to Co-operative Housing Ireland, Dublin City Council, the then Minister for Justice and Equality, the then Minister of State with responsibility for communities, the Garda and the Tánaiste in his former position of Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The correspondence was directly addressed to the Minister. Deputy Ó Snodaigh informed all recipients that matters had escalated, with criminal elements setting out conditions of commencement of construction works, with the Garda and Dublin City Council both aware of it. He again requested a meeting with the Minister for Justice and Equality, the local superintendents and others to ensure the site would not be compromised and that the demands of criminals would not be accepted. He requested that a Garda task force be set up to ensure work on the site could commence without workers, security staff or the Cherry Orchard development being held to ransom by criminal demands.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh stated in his letter that he was of the firm belief that if there was submission to the demands of these criminal elements, there would be contagion, not only for other sites in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard, but throughout the city as word of capitulation would spread. On 13 January 2017, more than two weeks after my colleague's initial letter, the then Minister for Justice and Equality declined a meeting, with no response from the Tánaiste in his then role of Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government or acknowledgement of either letter sent to him directly.

On Tuesday, approximately three years after my colleague's request for engagement with the Departments dealing with housing and justice, as well as the Garda, the High Court was told that Dublin City Council either paid or instructed contractors to pay protection money totalling more than €500,000 on three separate sites, including the Cherry Orchard site. The Criminal Assets Bureau has stated that a council official arranged payments, with the council denying the allegation. We have heard the court has opened an initial investigation but that does not go far enough. We need to know what others knew and why so many, including the then Minister for Justice and Equality and the current Tánaiste, did nothing despite being warned of the intimidation against site staff by these criminal elements as early as 2016. That was before over €500,000 was paid.

The current Minister for Housing, Community and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has stated he only learned about this the day before yesterday. The Tánaiste, however, was informed about this by Deputy Ó Snodaigh on Christmas Eve 2016, as well as on 5 January. The Tánaiste also received a letter from Housing Co-operative Ireland stating that it agreed with the concerns of Deputy Ó Snodaigh and his request to meet the Tánaiste and other Ministers to take on this issue. We have now learned that criminal elements have been paid €500,000 from the public purse. Will the Tánaiste explain to this House his inaction on this serious matter?

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