Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Baineann mo cheist leis an Mol Digiteach i mBaile Átha Cliath 8. This is vital infrastructure in an area that suffered from inaction for many generations and that is still suffering from it in some cases. The area has a low level of educational attainment and a high unemployment rate. It is recognised throughout Dublin and beyond for its concentration of local authority housing complexes, or flats. Also in the area is Guinness, with all the employment it has brought.

I was elected in 2002 and the Digital Hub started in 2003. I was a champion of it from day one because it was located in the Liberties to play a major role not only in trying to regenerate the area but also in linking in to the community. It has done tremendous work over 20 years in reaching out to and helping communities. It has also done tremendous work in the educational field, including in local schools, and has encouraged people one might not have thought would have had a chance in the world of being employed by one of the companies in the hub. The hub is to the fore in this regard.

In 2011, a decision was made that the Digital Hub Development Agency, DHDA, should be merged. In 2013, it was announced that it would be merged with Dublin City Council, or that the council would take care over its governance. Since then, I have continuously asked for word on this in the Dáil Chamber only to discover last year that there was a Grant Thornton review. It took a year for the Minister to look at it. I do not know why it took that long. Then, lo and behold, out of the blue and with no logic whatsoever, a decision was made to end one of the most successful regeneration initiatives in the Liberties, Dublin, send the companies out of the area and build more houses. While I agree we need more housing now, including houses for families, this is a land grab by the Land Development Agency, LDA. Somebody else can talk about what the Land Development Agency stands for. My biggest problem is that although we have been told continuously for the past several years that there is a need for sustainable jobs and communities, an initiative that has already proven to be sustainable is being closed down. The jobs will move out to the suburbs. That is not sustainable. It means people living in the area have to move and travel to work. This area has shown over the years that industry, big and small, can co-live with communities. There are many other sites on city council or State land that could be utilised for housing in the area. There is even land within the Digital Hub area that is surplus to requirements, or not suited to its requirements, that could have been earmarked for housing. To collapse the Digital Hub in the way the Minister is suggesting is absolutely illogical and ridiculous, and it needs to be reversed.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy for raising this question. The decision in the late 1990s to establish the Digital Hub project in the Liberties was made in the light of the success of other digital enterprise clusters around the world. The initiative was an important element of Government policy to develop Dublin as a location for digital enterprise. The DHDA was established in 2003 as a statutory body to oversee the Digital Hub project and it played a key role in the early days of Dublin's development as a location for digital enterprise. Since 2003, there have been many positive developments in the wider policy and economic environment that have seen Dublin develop as a significant European hub for digital enterprise, with developments throughout the city, most notably in the digital docklands in Dublin 2. We have only to look across the river to see all the large technology companies that have located in Dublin as a result.

With this in mind, the Department commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct an independent review of the policy underpinning the DHDA to inform policy as to its future, including the question as to whether it continued to be required to meet a socioeconomic need. The report concluded that the DHDA is not required to sustain the principal reason for which it was established, that of the continued growth and development of Dublin's digital enterprise sector. This informed the Government's decision to close the DHDA and transfer the properties to the Land Development Agency. The Government remains fully committed to the regeneration of the Liberties area of Dublin 8 and is of a view that the redevelopment by the Land Development Agency of the DHDA properties, in conjunction with properties in the area owned by the Office of Public Works, OPW and Dublin City Council, represents a priority and transformative project for Dublin. This will provide a greater contribution in addressing other market and societal needs beyond digital enterprise, including the construction of social and affordable housing, along with civic, community and retail development. The board of the DHDA will be asked to prepare an exit plan for an orderly wind-down, to be implemented by an expected date in mid-2022. It will address the needs of the staff of the DHDA, the client companies and communications with the local communities.

The Department will work closely with the agency on the finalisation of the necessary steps, including the redeployment of its permanent staff within the public sector.

The 31 client companies, with 270 employees, that are currently located at the Digital Hub campus are under no immediate pressure to move and will be able to continue trading as normal throughout the wind-down period. It is anticipated that during that time the client companies will find alternative accommodation, having regard to the finding of the report in respect of the robust supply of co-working and office space available in Dublin. That supply has only increased in the past year.

Finally, the Government recognises the important role the local community plays in the successful regeneration of the area. In this regard, the Department has committed to continue making funding available in order that the agency can continue its community engagement programmes throughout the wind-down period. The Department met the LDA following the Government decision and is keenly aware of the need for and value of community engagement as part of its plans for the regeneration of the area. The Department will work closely with the DHDA, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the LDA to ensure that the wind-down takes account of the needs of the community.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I do not think the mandarins, the Minister of State or the senior Minister get exactly what the Digital Hub was. It was a beacon in an area which has suffered significant dereliction through the years and has significant need for regeneration. Just when it was achieving success, it is being closed down. In fact, it has been successful from day one, but even recently it was discussing a significant contract with St. James's Hospital. I presume that is now gone out the window. It involved moving towards digital and medical devices and research and the likes. That is not going to happen under the control or the watch of the Digital Hub or Dublin City Council, which was to take over.

We have seen today that the Dublin City Council city manager basically stated that he was not consulted in any shape or form on this issue, yet when I asked about the matter last year, I was told the whole intention was for this to be transferred to Dublin City Council. That would be the logical thing to do but, because the LDA needs all this land as the State wants to pump it up in some mad way, the land is being given to it.

I have continuously pointed out that there is other State land in the vicinity which is not even being considered for housing now, but was considered for housing during the Celtic tiger. That land has not even been considered. I asked a question about that only last week and it was announced that it is not being considered. It is not just small patches of land here, there and everywhere; I am talking about an area that is even bigger than the entire Digital Hub site.

Although the Minister of State claims that those working at the Digital Hub can continue to work during the wind-down, they have basically been given a year to pack up their bags and get out. Similarly, the workers directly employed by the Digital Hub will have to pack up their bags and get out because the State has finished with them, despite the fact that it was successful and delivering work and, if you like, a greater status and hope for many young people in the area.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I absolutely agree that it has been a very successful project over the nearly the 20 years that it has been in existence. It brought something that was almost inconceivable, namely, the idea of very high-tech companies locating operations in the Liberties, on land formerly occupied by the Guinness company, in what was traditionally a major manufacturing area. It has served that role and the review found that has now been provided for. We have the National Digital Research Centre, Dogpatch Labs and other accelerators. There is plenty of office space in the area. The review found that there is no longer a need for what had been provided, but that it had delivered a great degree of regeneration in the area. It also found that what is needed now is housing and that the LDA can provide 500 homes for 500 families in the area. That is a form of regeneration. It will not just be housing on its own, it will also be civic spaces and everything that goes along with creating a real community that is not just apartment blocks or transient workers but is actually focused on the long-term and sustainable creation of communities, which is really the heart of regeneration.

There will continue to be various other locations for high-tech start-ups or where people can start businesses and so on. We know that in the course of the past year there has been a move away from the idea that we absolutely need physical space for office work to happen. At least half of office workers will probably be working from home. The demand for office space will be reduced as a result. People have got used to virtual working.

Our current focus is on housing. We believe the form of regeneration that is needed in the south centre of the city is through the LDA and assembling State lands, no matter which agency owns them, so that they can be combined to create a space that is large enough to build an entire new community within a district that needs regeneration and housing.