Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's office oversees the north inner city programme. As such, I hope he will agree that dereliction has long contributed to the decline of the north-east inner city, which in turn creates the conditions for antisocial behaviour and crime. The north inner city programme was established to address dereliction as a root cause of antisocial behaviour and is dedicated to the regeneration of the north inner city area. Therefore, I find it bizarre that a chairperson appointed by Fine Gael - by this Government and the previous Government of which Deputy Varadkar was Taoiseach - to oversee this programme was, in fact, the owner of a derelict property in Dublin 1.

Does the Taoiseach agree that the appointment of that person to the position of chair to oversee this task force was appropriate given the fact that he oversaw a property that was in dereliction in Dublin 1? When did the Taoiseach become aware that this person was the owner of a derelict site? Was he aware at the time of the appointment?

See this speech in context