Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending. The development taking place in the north fringe of Dublin city, or the south fringe of Fingal county, is perhaps one of the largest urban developments in the history of the State. New areas are being developed in places such as Beauparc, Clongriffin and Belmayne. From Clonshaugh to Belcamp through Clare Hall and Donaghmede, and on to Baldoyle and Portmarnock, well over 20,000 housing units, mostly apartments, are being built, approved or passing through the planning process. Similar large developments are being constructed as part of the continuation of the north fringe in the Minister of State's constituency, Dublin West and Dublin Mid-West.

ln response to my campaign and that of local residents and other development bodies, Dublin City Council prepared a north fringe action plan six years ago. However, this was little more than a very basic high-density urban design strategy laid out in the form of a few simple maps and pious aspirations about "block layouts", "urban gain" and "maximising potential linkages" through public transport. It only referred to a part of the north fringe. In spite of fleeting references to public transport, there was no reference to community infrastructure, be it associated with preschools, schools, third level institutions, hospitals, primary care centres, Garda stations, security facilities, youth and recreational facilities, sports facilities or facilities for seniors.

The outgoing city manager, John Fitzgerald, who will be retiring in the next few months, and county managers Willie Soffe and John Tierney have signally failed to address the great infrastructural challenges posed by building this new city on the northside. Even professional planners and architects believe the area has the potential for a major planning disaster, a soulless Milton Keynes imposed on Dublin North-East and a repetition of the grave errors of an earlier generation of county and city managers, architects and planners in north and west Dublin.

An example of the abysmal failure of the local government system in this regard is the almost total lack of co-operation between the two local authorities concerned. In a previous debate I compared the relationship to that between Croatia and Serbia.

On my suggestion approximately three years ago, city manager John Fitzgerald agreed to the establishment of the north fringe forum, which was intended to be a representative forum for all the stakeholders, including local residents and development bodies, local representatives, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Transport, the Garda Síochána, CIE, the HSE, An Post, Eircom, the Northside Partnership and others. Despite the best efforts of the forum's chairperson, Mr. Clive Brownlee, the north central area manager, Declan Wallace, the deputy manager, Ms Celine Reilly, and their staff, the forum has essentially become a talking shop that meets every quarter.

I asked the Taoiseach several times in this House to establish the north fringe forum as a statutory body like the Dublin Docklands Authority but he has consistently refused to do so. Why could this not be done? ln the central area of the development, a very serious issue has arisen as to why the city manager and his planners permitted and approved plans for over 7,000 apartments and a huge ancillary development without any significant new open space. It is true that Father Collins Park is being upgraded, following a design competition won by an Argentinian firm, but the park was laid out for the existing residents of Donaghmede and Ayrfield.

Six years after the issuing of the plan, there is no definite proposal for a primary care or new hospital facility, despite reports to the forum that Beaumont Hospital, the nearest hospital, is at 120% plus capacity. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has refused point-blank to countenance a new Garda station for the new city. We are only promised community gardaí on mountain bikes.

I contacted representatives of the two main churches in the country to ask if they had any plans for primary education in the area. Educate Together has been proactive in this regard. However, on the Stapolin-Baldoyle side of the development there is no firm plan for a school. There is no educational vision, at any level, to address the needs of perhaps 50,000 new residents who are to move into this district up to 2014.

I was looking at the statue of Thomas Davis behind me and thought of his ideal of a national education system, yet 170 or 180 years later we are nowhere near achieving this. One has to ask for sponsors. There is no national education system at all and the Minister for Education and Science presides over a private system.

On public transport, a new station on the DART line was supposed to be the centrepiece of the developments but key road network plans are way behind schedule and An Bord Pleanála inexplicably agreed to allow a huge section of Clongriffen to be inhabited before the opening of the new station, which is to be as late as 2008 or 2009. Currently the new inhabitants of Beauparc and Clongriffin do not even have a weekend bus service. The postal service was recently taken out of one of the older parishes of Friarswood, but there are no plans, whatsoever, for the north fringe. During the planning process I inserted the requirement for a fibre optic broadband link to every home and business in this new city. If this is happening, nobody knows or has a clue. No one is invigilating it.

A key depressing feature of the proposals submitted by the developers is the attempt to continually make more dense this already high density plan. People in Dublin North-East have been ignored by the two local authorities and their political masters in this House, the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche. It is still not too late to establish the north fringe forum on a statutory basis, like the Docklands Authority. It is not too late to look at the possibility of a strategic development zone. There are no plans as yet as regards a major chunk of this development, despite the developer, Mr. Gannon, trying to jump the gun a year ago. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government should call in the two managers concerned, the outgoing manager of Dublin City Council and the Fingal manager, and ask them for full accounting.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I emphasise to the Deputy that direct responsibility for the planning and delivery of the north fringe development rests with the local authorities involved, that is, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council. The achievement of sustainable communities is a key objective of the Government's housing policy. A wide range of policies and measures has been put in place to ensure that housing development in Ireland is planned for in a manner that supports the creation of sustainable communities within a high quality environment.

Guidelines for planning authorities on residential density were published in 1999. These include a specific objective of reducing urban sprawl and promoting greater efficiency in the use of energy, transport and natural resources.

My Department will review and update the residential density guidelines later this year, focusing in particular on the quality of new developments. We have also commissioned a research study into apartment size and space standards to inform revised planning guidelines on residential densities as well as urban design.

The north fringe framework development plan was prepared by Dublin City Council in 2000 and it sets out the objectives for the area, the site context and the urban design framework. The plan emphasises the need for a quality bus service and the provision of community facilities, including primary and secondary schools, a library, sports facilities, a community building and landscaped and other public spaces. Planning permissions in the north fringe have been granted in line with the framework plan and, as such, it is clear that the provision of the community facilities mentioned in tandem with the housing development is seen as key in the development of the area. I understand the scale of developments expected in the north fringe area is over 15,000 housing units — I note the Deputy said up to the 20,000 and perhaps he is right — with a new residential population of 35,000.

Commercial development of at least 220,000sq m is planned, including office, retail, leisure, community, health and educational facilities. A new railway station is being designed, with bus links to the Malahide QBC, while several new roads are included in the plans. It is envisaged that approximately 2,500 units will be ready for occupation by the end of this year and a further 3,500 by 2009, with the remaining 9,000 coming on line over the following five or six years. As the Deputy mentioned, in recognition of the scale and importance of this new town, the Dublin city manager invited all relevant agencies and groups to participate in a cross-authority-agency forum, which meets quarterly to monitor the development's progress.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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That was my motion.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Perhaps it was, I do not know.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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The Minister of State was there.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The membership includes Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council senior officials, residents' groups and representatives from other statutory bodies such as the HSE, the Department of Education and Science, the Garda Síochána, Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann.

The objectives of the forum include the provision of regular bus services, the construction and operation of a new train station, the provision of crèche facilities, the provision and financing of a primary school, the provision, financing and staffing of health centres, the provision of a Garda station, a needs assessment for secondary schools and the provision of sports and community facilities.

I understand agreement has already been reached on delivery of many of the above services, including the crèche facilities and identification of sites for a primary school, health centre and Garda station. The provision of regular bus services as soon as houses are occupied and the construction and operation of a train station have also been addressed.

The forum has established a security sub-committee to consider the anticipated policing problems of the north fringe development area and to make recommendations on the evolution of a policing plan for the development. I am confident that the north fringe development will be delivered in a way that integrates social and economic infrastructure and delivers sustainable communities for the future.

I note what the Deputy is saying. I am not totally au fait with everything that is going on there. However, if the forum is as toothless as the Deputy maintains-——

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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It is well intentioned, but it has no power.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Things can be made to happen without necessarily having legislative power. I hear what the Deputy is saying, but I do not know whether his view is formally conveyed from members of the forum. They seem to be happy enough and if they are not, they should say so. However, I hear what the Deputy is saying about special and strategic development zones and putting the measure on a statutory basis. I shall pass that view to the Minister, Deputy Roche. If members of the forum feel as strongly as the Deputy does on the issue, they should make their views known.