Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government is happy to increase the numbers of people living in inner-city communities.  For decades, Governments have been happy to increase the numbers of homeless services in inner-city communities; the number of homeless hostels; and the numbers of Housing First allocations in the flat complexes.  The Government is happy to increase the number of asylum seekers in the inner city.  All this time, the Government neglected flats and the inner city.  The Government has no interest in increasing the facilities and services available to residents living in the flats and living in the inner city.  Neglect of the inner-city communities will be the legacy of this Government, along with neglect of those living in the flat complexes.  There needs to be investment in the flats and in the services and facilities in the inner city.  The residents in the inner city protesting on Aungier Street are not extreme right-wing or fanatics.  They are ordinary working families who have been let down by successive Governments.  They have gone above and beyond to welcome people into the community, people whom other communities did not want.   They took in the homelessness services which other communities would not take and took in drug rehabilitation services which other communities would not take. While there is a diverse community in Dublin 2 and 8, the Government continues to increase the number of people in the inner city without increasing facilities and services.

  The Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT, campus on Aungier Street represents a huge opportunity to reverse the neglect by the Government.  It offers an opportunity for the State to make some small amends for decades of neglect.  The DIT building is a huge site and a huge asset for the State.  It offers a real opportunity to deliver some essential services and facilities for residents living in the Dublin 2 and 8 area.  The nearby DIT building on Kevin Street was sold off to a private developer some years ago.  It will add nothing to the local community in terms of the facilities and services that are needed for a functioning community.  This development will just add more pressure to services and facilities.  The DIT site in Aungier Street cannot just be sold off and more residents added to the community, which is already bursting at the seems.  The Government needs to ensure that additional services and facilities are put in place.  The neglect of the flats needs to stop.  One positive measure that would help that would be that the community would have a publicly accessible leisure and sports centre on the site of the DIT in Aungier Street.  That would be a great and necessary asset for a community that is at capacity, for everyone, especially a community that has been neglected for years.

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