Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter of giving consideration to keeping the Aungier Street campus in public ownership and the lack of public facilities in the area. On the question of the Aungier Street campus, the property is currently fully in the ownership of Technological University, TU, Dublin. Under the terms of the Grangegorman Development Agency Act 2005, both TU Dublin and the Grangegorman Development Agency, GDA, are together responsible for the disposal of assets, including the Aungier Street property. The funding realised by the disposal of these assets will then be reinvested in the Grangegorman campus. The property was listed for disposal on the State property register in September 2019 with no interest being indicated by the State sector in retaining the property in public ownership. On that basis, the GDA and TU Dublin have incorporated the disposal of the property into their funding plans for relocation to Grangegorman. Both the GDA and TU Dublin are mandated by the 2005 Act to obtain the best value from any property disposal so as to maximise the resources available for the Grangegorman development and to reduce the need for direct Exchequer funding. Dublin City Council recently debated the rezoning of Aungier Street as part of the preparation and approval of its development plan but the council decided to maintain the zoning as is.

The west quad is the new home on the Grangegorman site for the relocated business school and is being funded through the sale of TU Dublin's property on Aungier Street. In 2020, that sale was put on hold due to market instability caused by Covid-19 and is expected to resume again in 2023. The west quad will be home to approximately 4,000 students from the TU Dublin College of Business currently in Aungier Street, and the School of Languages and Law. It will also host the university conferring hall which will have a capacity of approximately 800 people.

I appreciate that the development of Grangegorman is of strategic interest to the Deputy but also that it is on the other side of the river and outside the Deputy's immediate constituency. Deputy Andrews's responsibility is to his own area - I do not mean that in any critical way - and my responsibility is to the people of Dún Laoghaire, not of Dublin 8 either. I totally respect and understand that. In terms of the question around serviced properties and the other facilities for the area, it is important to highlight the range of education services being provided by the Department of Education. Sandymount Educate Together Secondary School was established in 2016 and will ultimately cater for 1,000 pupils. Similarly, Harold's Cross Educate Together Secondary School will cater for 1,000 pupils. While I know these schools are not in the immediate area to which Deputy Andrews refers, they are proximate to it. I know both of those schools well. At primary level, Harold's Cross Educate Together National School, Gaelscoil Eoin, Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School and Shellybanks Educate Together National School are all providing additional school places in the area.

I would raise one note of concern with the Deputy. It is very important that communities that are taking in people from a whole range of different places are supported, particularly through the €450 million community fund announced by the Minister for Social Protection. That money is available to communities for better facilities and I would encourage the Deputy to look at every opportunity to avail of some of that funding for his own constituency. However, I would have a concern around the language used and references to Dublin city taking in more and more asylum seekers. Everywhere is taking in more asylum seekers, right across every constituency. There have been tensions in Aungier Street, with very many good people coming out to balance and moderate that but there have also been some difficulties there. We genuinely do not want to do anything that adds to or inflames those difficulties. It is important that every community is supported. Every community is taking in people right across the country and will have to continue to do so.

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