Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that very full and welcome response. I fully appreciate the initial response from his Department under call 1 and very much welcome consideration under call 2. It is important to stress how vital this funding is. Dundrum is not a small town, it is a very large town with a population of tens of thousands. Most people might associate it with a gleaming shopping centre which is wonderfully maintained by a very dedicated staff, but it is home to many. For two decades, there has been an issue where outside of the gleaming town centre so many other aspects of the town have been neglected. The main street is no longer a gleaming thoroughfare and an older shopping centre is still there. There is great concern about how run down are the residential and public spaces surrounding the new shopping centre. Dundrum is a populous town which is an economic driver in the area. It is the main source of rates for the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown local authority area which straddles two Dáil constituencies, with a sizeable population of commuters as well as those who work and are educated locally.

I acknowledge the work of Imagine Dundrum, a group of activists from across the town, some who have only lived there a couple of years and others whose family have been there for generations, because this is not a young town. It is important that there is joined up thinking so that the increased residential development is partnered with a civic, community plan such as this to ensure that the current residents do not simply live in empty houses close to a shopping centre but that they live in a community.

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