Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach if his Department is represented on the north-east inner city implementation board. [4278/18]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach the number of times the oversight group for the north-east inner city project chaired by the Secretary General of his Department has met; and if he has been provided with a report on progress from the programme implementation board. [5418/18]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach the role his department has had with the Dublin inner city forum; and the status of same. [5700/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together.

The programme implementation board chaired by Michael Stone is overseeing the implementation of actions recommended in the Mulvey report for the social and economic regeneration of the north-east inner city and will shortly publish its 2017 report, including comprehensive details of spending to date. The board, which comprises representatives from the community and business sectors and the main Government Departments and agencies, has met every month since it was established last June. The chairman of the board is reporting regularly to the oversight group of senior officials chaired by the Secretary General of my Department. The group has met five times since its first meeting last May. This is to ensure continued strong engagement across all Government Departments and agencies and to deal with any structural barriers and issues highlighted by the board.

My Department is represented on the programme implementation board and remains actively involved with the work of the board and the local programme office. This work seeks to bring a transformational change to an area that has struggled with deprivation for many generations. Families have also been devastated by the impact of drugs and the accompanying and associated violence. First and foremost, the aim is to make the area safe for families living in the community and for people working there, supporting the work of the local gardaí with additional measures such as expanding CCTV coverage, refurbishing Fitzgibbon Street Garda station and targeting street dealing through a new dedicated outreach programme.

The board is working with local employers to maximise employment opportunities for local people through small business and big new developments. This week, for example, a forum took place in the area with more than 20 local businesses to identify their skills needs that might be met from the local community. A new local two-week construction skills preparation course has led to local employment for 70% of the participants. Generating ambition and facilitating greater opportunities for young people is also vital. Big employers in the area have offered to provide work experience opportunities to people and the board is working with the local schools to ensure this happens.

It is also important to improve the look and feel of the area to help build a sense of community pride and involvement. Working with Dublin City Council, the board has targeted a number of works. This has already delivered improvements to street lighting, railway bridges, road surfacing, shopfronts and derelict buildings.

Another objective is to create an integrated system of local social services for vulnerable families and to support children. Analysis is being carried out on the existing service provision for children, young people and families. It is essential that the community knows what services are available and how to access them and that statutory and voluntary services work effectively together. Among other activities, Government has invested in restorative practice, youth leadership programmes and increased counselling for young people.

I will continue to ensure that ministerial oversight and support of this initiative is provided through the Cabinet committee system.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Everyone accepts that good work is being done, but the initiative requires urgency in its application and ongoing political commitment in terms of funding as well as policy developments of its objectives if those are to be met. Last week's murder of a man off North Strand Road, the fourteenth in the feud, has again brought into sharp focus the urgency of this work. This shooting took place in a densely populated part of the city already suffering significant and embedded social and economic challenges. Successive Governments have thus far failed to address and reverse the historical underinvestment that has led to these challenges, which is one of the reasons the board was set up. I am told the board is due to publish its 2017 report. I do not know whether the Taoiseach has any indication at this stage as to when the report will be published in order that the public can get a full look at the progress to date and its commitments to work into the future, as well as the Taoiseach's own commitment. Will the Taoiseach revisit the north-east inner city strategy and review the outcomes to date of the Mulvey report recommendations to ensure they are fit for purpose and flexible enough to deal with outstanding issues?

On a separate but connected point, has consideration been given to replicate this model and this approach on the south side of the city, another area affected by part of this ongoing feud and a very similar area in terms of its make-up and lack of investment? Will the Taoiseach consider this? I only received last week figures relating to the number of gardaí in one of these inner city areas. The commitment is there to address this matter, but there are 47 fewer gardaí in Kevin Street Garda station than there were in 2010, half the number of inspectors and six fewer sergeants. An urgency is needed not just in respect of the board, but right across all the areas and agencies that are feeding into the implementation board.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I, too, commend the progress that has been made because I know there was a genuine cross-party, all-of-House view that this task force had to succeed and that all necessary resources should be committed on an ongoing basis and beyond the length of any particular Dáil in order that we might make social change a reality for a community that has suffered a great deal. However, it is true to say the ongoing Hutch-Kinahan fued, so-called, is an extraordinary problem overshadowing potential progress. To quote the chair of the programme implementation board, Michael Stone, "I have... met with many people who are just trying to get on with their lives and whose wish it is to live in a safe environment with decent opportunities for them and their families." It is extraordinary and quite shocking that a family is being targeted to the point of extinction. I would welcome a particular response regarding the determination of Government to tackle what is the most serious criminal issue affecting any community in this country. As I said, I am very aware of the significant progress made to date by An Garda Síochána and I hope all resources will be made available to it to bring its endeavours to a successful conclusion.

I wish to raise one other point on a more positive side of this matter. I read that a proposal has been floated to establish a Riverdance academy and cultural centre in the north inner city. I do not know whether the Taoiseach is familiar with it. It is being promoted by the creators of Riverdance, Moya Doherty and John McColgan. I know they have had meetings with the north inner city task force. It would be such a positive thing in the north inner city to have established there a cultural centre with such international acclaim. Has the Taoiseach had sight of any proposals in this regard, and would he support any proposals to achieve this?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The problems and issues that have emerged in the Dublin north inner city area reflect the criminal manifestation, with the appalling murders of so many people, and it has had an impact on the community, families and particularly young people. There is a prevalence of gangs who influence the behaviours of young people and perhaps affect their subsequent performance in school and school completion. In the past I asked for an assurance that the money being directed to the much needed projects in the north-east inner city would not be taken from other areas with significant needs, in other words that additional funding would be provided over and above the baseline funding. How much of the investment is new investment over and above the baseline?

The deeper problem remains the decision to scrap local development activities, which were having a big impact. When I met the organisations more than a year ago they made the point that much of the infrastructure that had been built up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with regard to community-based activities and area task forces, got disbanded. Research shows that targeted disadvantaged initiatives can have a big impact. We did introduce quite a number of them and they had an impact on literacy levels, numeracy levels and school retention. They worked best when linked to wider local development programmes at the time. The time has long arrived when we should empower new local taskforce structures to plan and tackle issues in our most disadvantaged communities.

The centralisation and politicisation of the area is not working. It should not take major outbreaks of violence, such as those we have witnessed in the past year or two, for locally-led development planning to return. It is not just in the north inner city. It is in many disadvantaged communities throughout the country where, in many respects, the foundations put in were taken away too quickly. There was a political element to this back in 2011 and 2012, when certain politicians who came in felt there were too many people on these boards and local development groups whose political colour they did not like. I do not mean Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party. We heard references from people. The then Minister, Phil Hogan, in particular, had a bee in his bonnet about this, which is why the Leader project in rural Ireland was undermined. The same thing happened with local drug taskforces and area development committees. A lot of damage was done and we are beginning to see some of the outcomes of this. We need to go back to the tried and trusted models that did work but that need consistency and sustainability over a long period of time.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I echo the remarks of Deputy Howlin on the violence that has occurred in the north-east inner city and share his concern and horror at what has been going on in an attempt to eliminate an entire family. The people of the north-east inner city, like everyone else, just want to be able to live their lives and go to school, college and work and do not deserve to have this level of violence on their doorstep.

In terms of recent investment, €21 million is being invested in the St. Mary's Mansions project, which is a great example of inner-city regeneration. There is a permanent Garda presence through the emergency response unit, and it engages regularly with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who is a Deputy for the area as well as being the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform. A new community employment scheme has been established, which is specially targeting hard to reach unemployed people in the north-east inner city. As people are aware, there is a project board under the chairmanship of Michael Stone. There are no proposals at present to replicate this in any other neighbourhoods and it would be too soon to do so. We need the board to focus on getting the work done, and when it is done we can do an assessment as to whether it was effective, to what extent it was effective and what worked and what did not work. Only then would it be appropriate to consider whether it is a good idea to extend the same approach to other areas.

I had the opportunity to visit the area in my official capacity as Taoiseach on three occasions in recent months and many times in my personal capacity being from not too far from there. I intend to pay another visit towards the end of this month. The structures include the north-east inner city programme implementation board, four subgroups, the north-east inner city programme office and community consultative events. The programme office has been established in the area and commenced work on a number of actions. As part of the process the board has established four dedicated subgroups dealing with crime and policing, maximising educational opportunities, training and employment opportunities and an integrated system of social services, and improvements to the physical infrastructure in the area.

The first in a series of planned community events took place in October to ensure wider community involvement, participation and feedback on the various aspects of the initiative. With regard to funding, approximately €5 million was invested in 2016. This included an investment of €1 million in sports facilities and projects, €700,000 on local community projects targeting children and youth, €100,000 on drug-related projects and €3 million on physical improvement works, including roads, housing areas, parks lighting and refurbishment of the Sean McDermott swimming pool.

The €22.5 million provided in 2017 was allocated to projects across four priority areas, which are those I mentioned earlier. These include CCTV, the construction skills course that I mentioned earlier and grants to local projects. This year, funding has been provided through the Minister, Deputy Ring, under the RAPID subhead, on the same basis as the previous year. This will provide an extra €2.5 million in capital and current funding being allocated to the board, including a pilot social employment scheme. It is fair to say some of this is money that might have been spent in any case had the board not been set up, but some of it is additional. I am not able to give an exact breakdown.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We have 13 questions in the next grouping and five of the Deputies are here.