Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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Dublin city councillors recently voted in favour of a Part 8 development of 70 apartments on 1 ha of land at the front of Scribblestown estate, which is located on the Ratoath Road to Finglas. The latter is a road with which the Minister of State is probably familiar. This is a public private partnership development which will see six sites - across five local authority areas - being developed. The numerous issues which we face in housing can only be solved by supply and there is no disagreement on that, but the placing of this development causes me disquiet and I strongly believe that the area needs serious commitments in respect of facilities to match the development.

The Dublin city development plan outlines that Dublin City Council must ensure that all large developments are delivered in tandem with access to "essential infrastructure, such as transport, schools, childcare facilities, health facilities and recreational facilities." Looking at transport in particular, the figures are confusing as to why this site was selected. The nearest public transport is a bus route a 600 m walk away. It should be borne in mind that this is an entirely social development and that there is no provision for car parking or at least not for every apartment. It is confusing why people are expected to walk 600 m. The new Luas extension was given as one reason for why the site was chosen but it is located 1.5 km away. When representations were made to Dublin Bus that Finglas South and Finglas West - and Scribblestown within that - to the Luas line in Broombridge, a straightforward and modest request, the company agreed. The matter has been resting with the National Transport Authority, NTA, for several months. The Luas line has been opened but there has been no movement.

The new primary school provided for Scribblestown by the Department of Education and Skills was not built in the catchment area. It is not in Finglas or Scribblestown but in Broombridge which, as I said, has no transport links with Finglas or Scribblestown whatsoever. That is incredible. We are putting people in more social housing without giving them the wraparound services or facilities that they need. Having grown up in an entirely social housing development in Ballymun, I can say that it was and is a good community and a good area but one which was not provided with the services it needed, which gave rise to the troubles that plagued the area during the 1980s and 1990s. It is clear that mistakes have been made in the past and that lessons were learned but they seem to have been forgotten in the context of this development in Scribblestown.

Will the Minister of State give a commitment from the Department that if this public private partnership development goes ahead, he will lobby other Ministers, Departments and the NTA to ensure the provision of the basic services this area needs. There is not even a footpath leading to the Scribblestown estate on one side of the road. This is incredible in Dublin city, and now we are adding another 70 apartments to the front of the estate, which was originally built as an affordable housing scheme when Fianna Fáil was in government. We obviously need more affordable housing schemes.

I look forward to seeing the Government's plans on that in due course. These people in Scribblestown understandably feel somewhat shafted because when they bought their houses as an affordable housing scheme they were told this site at the front was going to be developed as a community centre but it is being used for apartments, without any of the services initially promised and no sign of that community centre whatsoever. I would appreciate a commitment from the Minister of State that he will advocate proper transport links, proper schooling and health care facilities in the area. The primary care centre for Finglas was promised in 2011 but is nowhere in sight. No site has been found. Apparently a site cannot be found yet 1 ha of land was suddenly discovered when it came to housing. I would appreciate the Minister of State's comments and commitments on this. Perhaps he could point Dublin City Council formally towards developing a local area plan which is sorely needed for Finglas.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The social housing public private partnership, PPP, programme is a critical part of the Rebuilding Ireland action programme for housing and homelessness, involving an investment with a capital value of €300 million to deliver 1,500 social housing units in three bundles.

The first bundle, which comprises six PPP sites, is expected to provide over 500 units in the greater Dublin area. Two of the sites are located in the Dublin City Council area, including the one at Scribblestown, which has approximately 74 social houses. It is expected that construction on this bundle will commence next year, following the tender award, with new homes becoming available in 2019.

The PPP programme complements the increased Exchequer-funded capital expenditure which is part of Rebuilding Ireland and allows for more social housing to be built in the context of available State resources. The PPP is part of a range of housing options being used by the Government in order to maximise social housing delivery. It is important to note that the sites being used will remain in local authority ownership and are being provided under licence for the duration of the 25 year PPP contract. Tenants allocated to PPP units will be drawn from the local authority social housing waiting list in accordance with that local authority's allocation scheme. The tenants will be subject to the standard arrangements that apply to other social housing allocations.

The PPP site at Scribblestown was identified and proposed for inclusion in the social housing PPP programme by the Dublin social housing delivery task force and by Dublin City Council, having regard to social housing need and the suitability of the site to be developed for social housing at this location.

The Department's guidelines concerning sustainability and social mix are set out in the 2007 document, Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities. The assessment criteria for the selection of PPP sites, including the site at Scribblestown, reflect these guidelines. While the new homes being developed are all for social housing purposes, sustainability is achieved within the wider framework of development planning for the area. Based on data and analysis from Dublin City Council, the percentage of social housing in the wider Finglas south area, after the Scribblestown development is completed, would be just 27%. The social housing need in the Ashtown, Blackhorse Avenue, Santry, Whitehall, Cabra, Finglas and Glasnevin areas of Dublin City Council is in excess of 4,000 applicants, based on the city council's data. The development at Scribblestown will therefore contribute to delivering much-needed homes for these applicants within their general area.

I am fully committed to and supportive of the development of the site at Scribblestown as part of the PPP programme and welcomed the news that Dublin City Council approved the Part 8 planning process early last week.

The Deputy is right to say that all Departments have a role under Rebuilding Ireland to make sure that any new housing is blended into an area and is well serviced in respect of transport and links to the community and facilities in respect of health and education services. As social housing delivery is the number one priority of the Government all Departments have been involved in the Rebuilding Ireland action plan. They all feed into that. They all have a role in that. I have no problem advocating that the services required to serve this would be developed if need be, if they are not put in place in 2018 and 2019 to service the site and the 74 new homes and families.

In general as a planning authority we try to encourage planning to be done in the correct way, ideally through local area plans which identify all the needs of the area. This site has been picked out and recommended by the local authority, as is its responsibility. It passes all our tests for suitability too. The Deputy is correct to say every Department has a role to play here and I will certainly make sure that message is passed on and that we advocate it across the board.

Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State and appreciate his remarks. He referred several times to sustainable communities. He can see from what I said earlier why I feel this scheme as it stands, with the resources as provided, does not constitute a sustainable community whatsoever. It seems that some kind of cordon sanitaire has been set up around Finglas, particularly in the past decade, in respect of developments in health care, education and transport. There is next to no public transport available there.

In the past year when the Taoiseach said he stands up for people who get up early in the morning I believed him. I still believe him and the people of Finglas believe him. However, it goes without saying that the people in Scribblestown will have to get up earlier in the morning in order to access school or to get to a health care centre that is nowhere near there and to get to their places of work because there will be 70 apartments lumped in front of their community with no footpath, no bus stop for 500 m, no link to the new Luas station they are being told about and no school in their catchment area. They were told they got a new school but it is nowhere near them. Only four people enrolled in it because it is not in the right catchment area. That is incredible.

I would appreciate a commitment and a whole of Cabinet, whole of Government approach to these problems which are bubbling. They will get worse. I am not against social housing or developments but it is clear that more is being added to an area that is oversubscribed and under-resourced. We are not getting the resources to match that need. I appreciate that the Minister of State said he will advocate on behalf of the community and work with the city council and the relevant line Ministers to get something moving there because it is sorely needed.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am not familiar with the exact site although I know the area quite well because I have tried to travel through it but have had to change my route on a couple of occasions due to the Deputy's good work in that area, blocking off certain routes to drivers.

The site has been picked by Dublin City Council. I presume there are plans for a footpath to serve it because it has passed all of our tests and that is part of the planning process. I understand there has been extensive dialogue with local residents and representatives who are understandably interested in what happens on the site and are keen to see that the development is delivered to a high standard and is socially sustainable for the area. This dialogue has resulted in amendments to designs for the planned development and will further inform arrangements for its management and for developing the community. The planning decision has already been made by members of Dublin City Council. The PPP project at Scribblestown is an availability-based PPP model in which a private sector company designs, builds, finances and maintains the social housing units over a 25 year period in return for a monthly unitary payment. The homes will be handed back to the local authority after 25 years in a pre-defined good quality condition. The sites will remain in State ownership for the entire period.

Given that it is an availability based PPP, I have to make clear that it is not possible for me, my Department or the council to agree to a condition that the site be developed using a different model to PPP or with a different density of social mix. It has already gone to tender. These are intrinsic elements of the PPP model being used for social housing. With planning permission not in place we need to move on and deliver homes from all these key sites for local households who need them badly. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy and he can be assured the site is being developed to meet pressing social housing needs while being fully respectful of the importance of good planning and community practices. I will work with our colleagues to do that as well.