Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a very disappointing response. If this community centre was situated down the country, it would be funded generously for important community activities. The LEADER programme, which was mentioned by the Minister of State, is good for providing such funding. As we know, part of that funding comes from the EU. If this community centre was in a disadvantaged area, the county council would probably take responsibility for funding it. This is a community-owned community centre. It is part of the hub of this large community. There are sources of funding, such as the Dormant Accounts Fund, which the Government can use. I have raised them privately with the Minister. I am rather disappointed that the note from the Minister, as read by the Minister of State, does not mention the Dormant Accounts Fund, which may be used precisely for purposes like this.

I am pleased that officials from the county council are going to meet people from the centre. That is valuable. We are talking about a diverse community with a large number of young people, including children and secondary school students. Approximately 60 languages are spoken by the children who attend the school next door to the community centre. The staff in the centre, led by the manager, go out of their way to make everyone in this vibrant and integrated community feel welcome in the centre. The manager of the crèche goes out of her way to help to look after the young babies and children of the area.

We are talking about a vital community resource and, in capital terms, a relatively small sum of money, €250,000, to address the fire safety and roof issues.

There were storm warnings last weekend. Many of us were afraid, given the nature of the warnings which had been issued and the quality of and problems with the roof, that had the major storm materialised it would have done much more damage than was the case. If this work can be done quickly, money would be saved. I asked the Minister of State to advise the Minister, Deputy Ring, that it is not enough to tell urban communities where people get up early, go to work and pay taxes that if they lived down the country the roof would be funded but because they live in Dublin it cannot be fixed. The dormant account funds can be used to supply funding for the centre.

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