Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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64. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has brought the Moore Street advisory group report to Cabinet with a view to prioritising the proposals to conserve and restore the historic properties in Moore Street associated with the Rising and adjacent areas of lanes and the proposals to improve and expand the market trading in Moore Street and the situation in which the traders are working; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27510/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am not quite clear which Minister will respond, although would be welcome, but I ask about the extensive report, The Moore Street Report - Securing History, on securing the future of the battlefield areas beside the GPO, rebuilding Moore Street as a trading and food market for Dublin and for visitors to Dublin, and reinvigorating the area. I am shocked the Minister has not yet brought this report to Cabinet because there has been a broad hard-working group working on this at the Minister's request.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I refer the Deputy to Priority Question No. 60, to which the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, replied.

The Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, already recorded in this House her sincere appreciation to the members of the group for the report, entitled The Moore Street Report - Securing History, the group presented to her at the end of March.

The Moore Street consultative group, which was independently chaired by a former departmental Secretary General, included local and Oireachtas political representatives, 1916 relatives, street traders and other stakeholders. It was set up in a bid to bring together the full range of views on the matter. In this regard the group reviewed numerous presentations and submissions from a range of interests, looked at a variety of official and other reports, interviewed relevant public officials and other experts, and examined a large body of work from within its own membership. That extensive programme of work culminated in the series of recommendations contained in the report.

The Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, welcomes the fact the report is seeking a way forward based on consensus. She believes its recommendations can help breathe new life into the area, which Deputy Joan Burton attested to as well, while at the same time retaining its sense of history and tradition. In addition to its particular association with the 1916 Rising, there are other relevant aspects of the street and surrounding area that also need to be taken into account, including the range of State, public and private property holdings and ownership and, of course, the presence of the street traders themselves who do so much to give the area its unique ambience and place in the life of the capital city.

The report has looked carefully at all these elements and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is pleased that it signals the potential for a mutually successful outcome to be agreed between the relevant parties, balancing the perspectives of all the key stakeholders. The Minister is fully supportive of this collaborative approach and she wants to see the work already done being continued in order that we can progress to the next stage and see tangible results on the ground.

Critical to this has been the establishment of the new advisory group that the report itself identifies as the most effective way to move forward with its recommendations.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister has now proceeded with the setting up of this group under the chairmanship of Dr. Tom Collins. The group has already met and embarked on the task of looking at how best to implement the recommendations.

I am happy that this ongoing process represents the best approach to achieving an optimal outcome for the Moore Street area. This will involve extensive discussion, negotiation and agreement with, and actions by, a variety of public and private bodies. The process is being supported by my Department and I am looking forward to seeing positive outcomes from the interactions between the various parties.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If the Minister of State cares to take a walk down Moore Street and the lanes running between the GPO and Moore Streets, he will note that it is an area in total crisis in which Moore Street, as a vibrant street market, and the traders who have traded inter-generationally there are on their last legs. A great deal of work was done by a diverse group, ranging from relatives of the 1916 leaders to those with an interest in the architecture and in the revitalisation of this important part of the city, and all the public bodies and authorities.

As a former Tánaiste, I find it shocking that this report has not been brought to the Cabinet. That is what my question is about. For instance, the new Taoiseach has not seen this report. Maybe he has read about it in the newspapers but he certainly has not seen it, as an outgoing member of the Cabinet and the incoming Taoiseach.

We have to take our opportunities. In Donegal the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, has to do so in relation to tourism, commemorations, etc. There is enormous scope for the development of the whole Moore Street area in a way in which other cities across Europe have done that combines history with a vibrant agricultural and produce market and that gives a future to the traders also However, that will start with not only those who wrote the report but the Cabinet having ownership of the report.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We are running short of time. I will take a supplementary from Deputy Peadar Tóibín.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The consultative forum was an excellent idea. It was one of the best things Fine Gael and the Independents did on this issue. However, that forum highlighted a number of actions that need to be taken and those actions place responsibilities on Ministers concerned. That is why Deputy Joan Burton is correct in stating that it is necessary that it gets the full stamp of the Department so that it not only remains in the ether but is physically accepted as Government policy.

There needs to be co-operation between the developer and the forum. We need to ensure 14-17 Moore Street are taken into OPW hands and that a preservation order is placed on 10-25 Moore Street. The Government needs to look at how 10-25 Moore Street can come into either Government use or ownership.

I would not be prescriptive about it but I would like to see Irish language groups, for example, locate there rather than be scattered around the town or city. In that way cultural and language organisations could realise critical mass in that part of Dublin.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I believe we are all in agreement that this is something of value. Moreover, we want to hold on to what we have and develop it further. The committee will look at how to bring the recommendations forward. I will take the message back.

Progress to date has been positive. For information purposes, the report has been published on the Department website. A question was asked about bringing the matter to the Cabinet. I will follow up on that to see what processes are involved.

As a young boy in the late 1970s and early 1980s my first introduction to Dublin was to Moore Street and the traders there. I came up to do the Christmas shopping with my mammy, brothers and sisters on John Joe Boyce's bus. It is a valuable part of the social infrastructure and legacy of Dublin. It is something of which the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys, is conscious. Not only does she want to protect it but she wants to develop it also. Knowing the Minister as I do, I am confident that she is open to different ideas and suggestions from different groups.