Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is work under way. For example, Dublin City Council has given a commitment to look at the fact there is a consolidation of health services and supports, particularly for those with drug addiction problems in the city centre. It is examining what kind of impact this has on surrounding areas. We need to get this information first. Initial work was done on the time of day that street cleaning is carried out and whether there is a better time to do it. How do we make sure that our streets are clean? All of this feeds in, as does looking at where the trees on O'Connell Street block the light.

A significant amount of work is being done in assessing where there are ways in which we can make small improvements. In the context of making the much larger changes, however, one is up against issues relating to the type of housing that is central to O'Connell Street and the surrounding area, where there was a significant amount of tourism, whereas now there are people seeking international protection and people who have fled from Ukraine, with the associated impact on footfall in the city centre. There was a lot of work happening across different Departments even prior to the plan being launched and separate from the work of the Garda. Of course, it is the intention that the community safety partnership will bring all that together and make sure it is a plan that is supported by all the Departments the Deputy mentioned and that I have outlined in some of these specific areas.

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