Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I will only take as much as I need. I thank everyone who spoke on the Private Members' motion. It really reflected the difficulties that communities are having with regard to large developments being built in their areas. I agree with Deputy Pringle that it would have been better if the Government had voted against it or tabled an amendment to it because the communities would have seen their demand for 20% of development levies to be put into the communities in which these developments are being built taken seriously.

I want to make a point again about Drimnagh. Much work by the community went into the Dynamic Drimnagh plan. They put it into the Dublin city development plan and went right through what they saw was needed in areas in their community. They are the people who know what is needed in their community. They have not received any money for any improvements to their community. Two major developments are going on, one of which is built and the other of which is being built on the former Eason's site at Brickfield. That will bring in €11.5 million in development levies, which is going directly into the city. I know it is used for general things. Does the Minister of State know what that community is getting, however? They were looking for tea rooms in Brickfield Park and for the pavilion to be developed with showers for the footballers and toilets. Does the Minister of State know what they are getting? They are getting €500,000 for the pavilion despite all this development going on around them. They are absolutely angry and annoyed. They have done everything right. They have gone to the area office and to Dublin City Council. They met with representatives with responsibility for parks and all these different areas. They have done everything right and yet they do not have the money coming into the area to try to develop it. That is a very dangerous thing from the point of view of the Government and local authorities. When people feel isolated and they do not see anything coming back into the community, they get very disenfranchised and question the whole idea of local democracy.

The object of the motion is to bring local democracy into the community where the community has direct relations with their elected representatives. We should use 20% of development levies in the same way as the discretionary funds are used in local areas, where issues can be identified and decisions made as to where the funds should go.

In response to some points made by the Minister of State, the Government states it is confident that new plans will address and provide community gain in areas such as Drimnagh. It is not only Drimnagh of course, but other areas across Dublin city such as Finglas, Cabra and so on. Why would people in Drimnagh believe that this is going to happen with any new plans when they have been losing out for years? The money has not been going into the community. Since Drimnagh was established in the mid-1930s, there has been no serious investment in the area. The community has been asking for facilities for years but this has fallen on deaf ears. In particular they were looking for Brickfield Park to be developed and they got €500,000.

Section 48 and 49 provide funding for public infrastructure such as roads, water treatment, parking and so forth. Deputy Pringle made that clear. However, that it is not going into the community or for community gain. In a rational world, water, parking and roads would already be planned for and funded by the local authority capital programmes. That is what the local authority is supposed to be there for. Existing legislation takes money that is needed in communities and diverts it to fill holes left by the Government’s refusal to properly fund local authorities. The land value capture and urban development zones could be positive but they are market dependent. It is not a cure-all for this problem. Government proposals do nothing to address the unequal distribution of funds and give no guarantee of money in the areas that need it. This money needs to be put in the hands of the communities and their elected representatives as they are the best people to know what the communities need. Although great work is done in local authorities the fact is that the little funds they have, having been cut back so much, are dispersed using a top-down model and used to fight fires left by gaps in Government spending. In my experience on the council, councils are not trusted with purchasing power. The only area in which councils have power is through development plans. Even in that process many of the proposals put forward by local councillors are gone by the end of the third phase of the development plan.

Sufficient funding is not provided for community or discretionary spending. There is no community gain because no money is provided for it. There is real inequality in where these funds are going. Drimnagh has been allocated €500,000 for the Brickfield Park dressing rooms. The community was originally promised a refurbished pavilion and dressing rooms as well as a tea room. Merrion Square park will get €3.4 million for a tea room but Brickfield Park in Drimnagh will not. This area has received €11.5 million in levies recently and will receive another €45 million in levies over the next three years, but the park gets €500,000. The levy collected from development in the area is high. There is a clear need for local ring-fencing to ensure communities get the funds they need from the funds raised in their local areas.

For years the communities have been left out following years of austerity, under-funding and neglect and years of what little funds there were being unevenly distributed. Councillors and their communities deserve a say and deserve funds to shape their own areas. Community gain has come solely from the hard work of people in these communities but needs funds to effect the change needed to face these new developments. The current system of local authority spending is like a Band-Aid instead of real Government investment in working-class communities. If the Government is committed to giving these communities proper positive change and proper services, it should stop publishing plans and reports and just give them the money. Section 48 (2)(c) of the Planning and Development Act should be amended to instruct local authorities to distribute 20% of the levies from construction projects in the local area where the housing is being built in order that the community and its elected representatives can deliver that money into the areas it is needed.

There are currently 12,500 people living in Drimnagh. These developments will double the population; we have facts and figures on this. However, the area has no library, primary care centre or community centre. The St. John Bosco Community and Youth Centre is nearly 60 years old. It is on public land yet no money being pumped into it. It has deteriorated so badly that it cannot be redeveloped and, therefore, a new site must be identified for it. Dynamic Drimnagh has to come up with a plan for that and do a land swap. The park is abandoned again with just €500,000 for a pavilion out of the moneys coming from the development levies.

I am disappointed that the Minister of State did not table a countermotion because then there could have been a real debate on this issue. I am cognisant of the fact, looking at my WhatsApp messages at the moment, that people from the Dynamic Drimnagh group are watching this debate. They see what the levies are being spent on and are becoming angry. They are asking who they should contact and which Minister they should contact in regard to this because they want something done about it. The most direct way would be to give 20% of the levies to the communities in order that they have a say in where that money goes to ensure it goes where it is needed.

I thank my personal assistant, PA, who helped to draw this up. He came on board in January; my former PA retired in December. Putting this together involved a great deal of work so I thank him for that. We will be back about this issue. Communities will demand that some of those levies should not go to the top level of Dublin City Council but rather that they go to them.

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