Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For a number of years I have been raising the issue of vacant, now derelict, homes on what was formerly the St. Ita's Hospital campus with the Department of Health. It has now been passed and I have been engaging with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Fingal County Council. There appears to be no resistance on the part of any of the entities I am engaging with to redeveloping these houses and bringing them back into use as homes, but there is a fair amount of buck passing taking place. It does not rest solely with one Department. The HSE owns the site but does not have the capability to develop the houses. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has the capability to instruct Fingal County Council to develop the houses, but it does not own the land. I am reminded of the old advertisement on the television in which people used to say that one could not get a job without experience, but one could not get experience without a job. It appears that it just requires somebody to provide a little leadership. I urge the Tánaiste, as the deputy Head of Government, to bring these three entities - Fingal County Council, the Department of Health and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage - together and get these homes redeveloped. They are badly needed. They have been allowed to fall into dereliction and they must be brought back into use.

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