Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The issue in question is the urgent need for the Government to address a crisis that has arisen due to the pulling out by McNamara Construction from contracts for five regeneration projects. This is not only about building homes; this is about regenerating five communities in this city and the knock-on effect for other communities who wait in hope for regeneration projects.

I believe the decision by McNamara Construction is a vote of no confidence in the public private partnership route Dublin City Council took, encouraged by the Government. In a previous life this Government, with Deputy Martin Cullen as Minister, rejected a community plan developed for St. Michael's estate, despite the plan originally having the support of Dublin City Council.

The Government must now renew the confidence of these communities in regeneration — it must fill the gap and take charge of all five projects. The Government must underwrite this scheme to the extent that it not only builds social housing, but affordable housing and private homes also. It must also provide the facilities promised to St. Michael's estate, O'Devaney Gardens, Seán McDermott Street, Dominick Street and Infirmary Road.

I reiterate a call made by Councillors Críona Ní Dhálaigh and Christy Burke today. I call on Deputy Michael Finneran, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, with responsibility for housing, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan and even the Taoiseach to visit these areas and talk to the residents. They have put up with a great deal since these regeneration projects started. They have put up with devastation and disadvantage in the hope that their dreams would come true. Those dreams have now been shattered. I wish Ministers would come to these areas and live there for a week to see the effect this decision has had. The Government has not taken this matter seriously. There is a crisis and it needs to be addressed with greater urgency than it has shown so far.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here. I have lived and worked in St. Michael's in Inchicore all my life. For the past 18 years I have been hearing about the plan for the regeneration of St. Michael's estate. I have been a member of the board of St. Michael's for the past eight years. On numerous occasions plans have been brought to the table and rejected. The plan recently abandoned, a public private partnership in conjunction with McNamara Construction, had brought great hope to people. People thought they were finally going to get homes they could live in, that they would be part of a community, and that they would have facilities that were badly needed. It would bring a new beginning and, above all, a new social agenda. People living in the community need to be re-educated, to participate in programmes for working in the community, and to have homework clubs. It was to be the start of a new life.

Yesterday a shock wave went through our community. The hopes and dreams not only of those living in St. Michael's estate but also those in the wider community of Inchicore were shattered. Through the years, Inchicore has put up with many problems, including at one stage the closure of many shops due to the huge drug problem in the area. Things have since improved and at this stage people are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. However, yesterday the project was again put on the back burner. I am not here this evening to blame the board, Dublin City Council, the developer or even the Government. I am here to request sincerely that the Government consider this issue. It is now time to make a decision for those people who have remained in St. Michael's estate for the last number of years, some of them in quite difficult conditions. If it were not for the fact that Dublin City Council has improved living conditions in St. Michael's to a certain extent I dread to think what it would be like.

I believe the project, which was started two years ago, is not lost and that there is a chance it can be completed. I want this to happen, as do the people living in Inchicore and the residents of St. Michael's estate. I want the Government to honour the commitment that has been given to the residents of St. Michael's estate to improve their lifestyle, to go forward together and to give them a new vision of what regeneration is about — a new life and a new beginning. The Government needs to step in and support the regeneration project. It should support the board and those in the community who have played a major part in the project. I am not here to roar and shout but to request on behalf of those living in St. Michael's estate and Inchicore that this project, which is so badly needed, be revitalised and that the Government step in and take the issue seriously. I am fed up coming into this Chamber with requests under Standing Order 32 that are rejected. This is a matter of national importance and I seek the Minister of State's reassurance that something will be done for all of us who have put in so much work in the area.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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With my two colleagues, I wish to raise this important issue and seek intervention by the Minister of State and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

It has come as a huge shock to the people of the north inner city that McNamara Construction and Castlethorn Construction have suddenly decided to withdraw from their public private partnership agreements with Dublin City Council. The hundreds of tenants of O'Devaney Gardens, Infirmary Road, Seán MacDermott Street and Dominick Street, not to mention St. Michael's estate on the south side where the project has been promised for a even longer period, are shell-shocked on hearing that their long-promised homes and facilities are now less likely to materialise. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government must outline his plans to assist these devastated local communities which are dependent on the successful delivery of the PPP model. He must outline the implications for Dublin and for other cities and towns in which the same PPP model is being promoted. He must also state the level of binding legal commitment in the agreements reached between the city council and the private developer and whether the city council or the State has any legal recourse. The Minister must state whether this devastating news has implications for the successful delivery of other projects within his brief which depend on the PPP model. We have heard that a number of these projects are also in jeopardy.

The retiring Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Purcell, speaking last Sunday night on "The Week in Politics", urged the Government to be cautious in its use of the PPP model. The fact that so many projects in Dublin should have been agreed at the same time with McNamara Construction and should collapse at the same time needs to be explained. My main concern is for the hundreds of tenants of the four project areas in my constituency who feel absolutely betrayed. They and their representatives have patiently worked to plan the regeneration projects hand-in-hand with the developers and the local authority over recent years. The local authority must organise meetings with them to reassure them that the social, affordable and community housing aspects of the projects will be retained and that these homes will be constructed. There is an immediate need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to make that commitment.

I welcome the new Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Michael Finneran, and congratulate him on his appointment. I want to be the first to invite the Minister of State to come to Dublin Central, attend our meetings, visit the estates and meet the residents. I would like the Minister of State to come with the ability to make a financial commitment that the social, affordable and community development aspects of the projects, which have been in the pipeline for so many years, will be delivered in the not too distant future. It has long been promised that at last this public private model would be successful. I ask the Minister to make such a commitment.

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. The fact that three Deputies are combining to speak on this issue reflects its importance and the very real concerns about the regeneration process in the areas affected. The regeneration of estates is a key element of the Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, and more than €120 million has been provided from the Exchequer in 2008 to aid this process. This is in addition to funding from the private sector and from local authorities' own resources.

I remind the house that Dublin City is a very active and successful authority in terms of regeneration. The Deputies will be aware of Dublin City Council's track record in the successful regeneration of inner city flats complexes as well as its role in overseeing the substantial regeneration programme under way in Ballymun. The Ballymun regeneration project itself, which was the subject of a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, is one of the largest developments in the State and has been brought about through a combination of public and private money, construction expertise and management skills.

We should not forget the contribution to regeneration arising from the work of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, which has so visibly transformed the inner city of Dublin. The Fatima Mansions regeneration project is nearing conclusion and is a clear demonstration of Dublin City Council's successful implementation of the public private partnership model. The project involved the demolition of 364 largely vacant flats and will deliver 150 new local authority homes, 70 affordable homes and 395 homes for sale on the private market. The redevelopment also includes enterprise space, a community centre, commercial space, a leisure centre and general infrastructural and landscaping works.

Public private partnerships are part of a range of options used by Dublin City Council to renew and regenerate its social housing estates and provide new social and affordable housing in the city. PPPs are a way of promoting sustainable development by encouraging social, income and tenure mix in an economically efficient way. The partnership model is based upon Dublin City Council optimising the use of its existing land holdings to leverage private finance. The developer in turn provides the local authority with an agreed number of social and-or affordable housing units and funds the overall development in whole or in part from the sale of the housing units to the general public.

It is important to note that public private partnerships are by no means the only mechanism being employed by Dublin City Council to advance its ambitious social and affordable housing programme. Significant Exchequer resources are also being provided and the council was recently allocated more than €250 million from the 2008 social housing investment programme, including €65 million for the regeneration of Ballymun. In the past five years, Dublin City Council has completed more than 3,000 social housing units outside of the regeneration programme and Ballymun.

On Monday, 19 May 2008, Dublin City Council announced that its PPP regeneration projects with Castlethorn-McNamara in St. Michael's estate and O'Devaney Gardens and with McNamara on Dominick Street, Convent Lands in Seán McDermott Street and Infirmary Road would not go ahead as planned. The current economic climate and the substantial changes that have recently occurred in the residential housing sector have, according to the developers, rendered these projects non-viable. The council is working with its tenants to explore options for regenerating the five areas affected by the announcement. It will meet the three regeneration boards involved in St. Michael's estate, O'Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street to explore all options and to consider alternative plans to deliver the social housing needed in those areas. The original apartment blocks in St. Michael's estate containing 346 flats are substantially vacated, with 23 families remaining. The immediate priority will be to ensure that this process will continue and new homes will be found for the remaining families, pending the area's regeneration. Further physical work is scheduled in O'Devaney Gardens where four vacant blocks are due for demolition.

The next step is for Dublin City Council to examine all of the social, economic and legal implications of the recent announcements and to table alternative proposals so that the regeneration process can proceed. It is important to remember that procurement processes are under way in respect of other PPP projects in other areas of the city, which will help in informing the way forward. My Department will actively engage with the council in terms of alternative proposals for the projects. It will also consider the wider implications, if any, for the approach to PPPs generally. At this point, it is too early to try to detail the factors that have led to this situation, beyond noting the obvious fact that market conditions have changed significantly in the past six months. However, this matter must be examined in depth to allow my Department to consider the wider implications for the PPP regeneration programme as a whole. What is clear is that we will still need private enterprise, in whatever form it takes, to help build sustainable mixed communities. There is no going back to the era of large mono-tenure social housing estates, with all of the consequential concentration of economic and social deprivation.

All the options for progressing the projects raised by Deputies are being examined by Dublin City Council. I assure the Deputies that my Department will continue to engage with the council actively with a view to moving these projects forward as quickly as possible. As someone who worked for many years with the Dublin health authority, I know the areas well. It is my intention to visit the different locations during the coming days and weeks.