Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that there will be an announcement before the end of the year but unfortunately I have listened to Minister after Minister responsible for housing talk about this development and do nothing. In 2002, the facility was closed down. For 18 years, it has lain idle. We have had Fianna Fáil in government, Fine Gael in government and a mixture, yet nothing has been done. I welcome the announcement but in 2013, seven years ago, I sought to have the site developed. On a number of occasions, I went to Cork City Council seeking a partnership with the likes of Cork Institute of Technology, UCC and homelessness services to have a sustainable site but nothing happened. The first Minister I went to was Mr. Phil Hogan, and I also approached Deputies Coveney and Eoghan Murphy. I raised it with everyone. We need the site developed. The Government and HSE spent hundreds of thousands of euro protecting it with security firms but, in 2017, it was burned to the ground.

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