Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the establishment of the task force and commend Mr. David McRedmond for taking on this important role. However, I think he is going to have a very challenging task in terms of trying to change the status and make-up, and deal with the concerns that we all see when we travel through the city centre at present. I have no doubt Mr. McRedmond and the other people on his committee will be able to describe the problems that are present in Dublin city centre. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of Covid and the restrictions that were introduced appears to be that quality of life in the city centre has declined quite significantly.

What the Taoiseach will have to do when he gets the report, hopefully at some stage in mid-August, is give an indication as to how it is going to be implemented. I will give my own assessment of why there needs to be a strong implementation project in this respect. It is clear that we have decided, for very legitimate reasons, no doubt, that for many of the societal problems that exist in Dublin at present, whether it be homelessness, drug addiction or people seeking international protection, we have focused all of the services in the city centre. That puts an undue burden on the city centre. We need to recall that Dublin city centre is not like the city centre of London. Dublin city centre has a vibrant residential community. I represent a significant part of it in Dublin Bay South and colleagues in Dublin Central also represent that area. We need to recognise that if we want to alleviate some of the issues that are affecting the city centre, we will have to look at sharing out those services across the city and county in respect of people who are in need of these challenging and important services.

My big fear is that, otherwise, we are going to see a very divided city. Some parts of Dublin are excellent at present and are vibrant and thriving, but we can see that other parts have a very challenging and difficult environment. What we do not want to happen is that the city in some way becomes segregated or divided and there are parts that people just do not want to go to, whether they are tourists or people going out at night-time. That will be a central task, not just for Mr. McRedmond but for the implementation of his recommendations when they come.

See this speech in context