Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that response. Estate management is a much more difficult task when an estate is not receiving the funding or support it needs. It is a much more difficult task when the estate is facing an uphill struggle in terms of disadvantage. The Robert Emmet CDP, which the Minister of State mentioned, is doing excellent work.

Some of the excellent work it is doing highlights the depth of the problems here. In a recent survey, it said that 98% of residents were afraid to complain to Dublin City Council for fear of losing their housing. This, in particular, is a reflection of the housing crisis, which we all talk about, but also a reflection of how difficult it is to take the steps you talk about when things are a matter for DCC and An Garda Síochána. The Robert Emmet Community Development Project also identified a huge number of apartments - I think it was 82.8% or 83% - affected by damp. The total refurbishment is a positive step that we must welcome. However, the timelines on that are anywhere from ten to 15 years. We need interim measures now.

Dublin City Council has given a commitment to fund its own independent study to identify key remediation works that can be done in the short term so that the lives of residents are not blighted by damp and the estate management can be improved, while waiting those ten to 15 years for the total refurbishment. The budgetary cost of that, in terms of the Dublin City Council maintenance budget, would be massive and very difficult for the council. In terms of the national budget, however, it is not a very large figure. These are the sorts of things on which the Department needs to support Dublin City Council so that it can ultimately support the wider population in the estate and make a start on addressing all those multi-faceted issues that I raised in the first half.

See this speech in context