Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here to discuss this matter, which has gone on for years. It relates to Clongriffin DART station on its Baldoyle side and the Myrtle estate at The Coast. I will share an email with the Minister of State that I received on Monday. This does not just go back to this week. I visited the site in August 2018 and, since then at least, issues have constantly been raised by residents. The email reads:

Today Monday September 18 marks two weeks since the lift access in the stairwell from Myrtle to Baldoyle to Clongriffin DART station has been out of order. The developer, Richmond Homes, the owners and maintainers of the lift and stairs, have given residents a timeline of a further two to three weeks before the lift can be repaired. With the lift out of order, there is no access for people with mobility and sight issues, those with young children in push chairs or travelling by bike from both Myrtle and Clongriffin. This is the fourth time within this month alone that the lift has been out of service. Built in 2010, this temporary structure is made up of four flights of perforated metal stairs and a lift that for years has been in and out of service. Thirteen years on, the stairwell and lift have fallen into massive disrepair and when it has been working it is often filled with urine, faeces, drug paraphernalia and vomit. Badly lit at night, the stairwell has become a hub for antisocial behaviour and a hang-out spot for gangs of young adults and regular drug use, resulting in residents feeling unsafe to travel through, especially if female and alone. As I am sure you know, in June, Myrtle, the Coast Residents' Association launched a petition calling for safe, universal access to Clongriffin. To date, the petition has gathered over 2,600 signatures. The residents are encouraging public representatives to attend a peaceful meet-up at 6.30 p.m. on Monday, 25 September, inviting all public representatives.

It is signed by Samantha O'Flanagan, from Myrtle, the Coast Residents Association. I do not know if the Minister of State has been to Clongriffin DART station. The DART station was opened in 2010. It is one of the newest DART stations in the network and it has frequently had problems with antisocial behaviour. The glass on the facade is frequently broken. The ticket machines have been vandalised. There have been issues of quite serious antisocial behaviour on the train line beside the station. This stairwell has been a constant problem. The problem is that it is in private ownership and its managers are not doing their job.

I remember back in 2018, when I tweeted about the state of the stairwell, Mazars, which was in charge of it, got in contact with my office asking me to take down the tweet, because it felt it was unfair. Now, however, it is the responsibility of Richmond Homes, and the residents are not satisfied. They feel that Iarnród Éireann or the State agencies need to take ownership of the access. If you have a mobility issue, if you are vulnerable, or if you have any other reason, you will not gain access to this public transport link. It may feel like a small issue but if this is your access point to the DART network, it is not safe, it is not secure and residents in that area feel like they are being disrespected. Those who have mobility issues and access requirements are also being disrespected. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State’s answer.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to acknowledge that Deputy Ó Ríordáin has raised this Topical Issue relating to lift access in Clongriffin. On behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, the matter raised is one in which the Minister has no direct function. However, planning plays an important role in enabling the alignment of housing delivery with infrastructure provision through the policy measures of the development plan and also by way of planning conditions attached to a grant of permission.

As Clongriffin DART station is located in the administrative area of Fingal County Council, which has experienced a population growth of 34,000 people since 2016, it is acknowledged that the provision of, and access to, sustainable modes of public transport in urban areas is an essential service for the residents. The Department of Transport is aware of the matter that has been raised and has confirmed to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that the lift in question, despite its intended function to provide access to Clongriffin DART station, is not owned or maintained by Irish Rail. It is also understood from the Department of Transport that the lift in question is located on private property and is not in the ownership of any State authority.

The ongoing maintenance of infrastructure such as lifts within private developments is not a planning matter, and furthermore the maintenance of lifts and communal spaces within or related to multi-unit developments or other private developments is a matter for the relevant management company.

It can be confirmed that the matter of the lifts and proposals to replace them with more appropriate access to the station was addressed by conditions attached to a grant of planning permission issued by An Bord Pleanála in 2020. As this is a specific case in which the relevant planning authority and the board had involvement, under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, the Minister with responsibility for planning shall not exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or the board is or may be concerned, and is precluded from commenting.

It is understood that this matter has been raised directly by residents with Fingal County Council and the relevant management company. The council have confirmed that they are currently engaged with the relevant parties concerned to bring about a permanent solution to this issue, as a matter of priority.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I appreciate that there are limits to what the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, can do in this regard, but he does have the soft power to discuss this issue with Irish Rail. The Minister of State can appreciate that residents are completely exasperated and have no trust in any private provider that is providing what is essentially public access. We have a situation where a private entity is in charge of public access to the public transport system. It is not working. We are not just talking about a period of weeks here, but a period of years. The lifts are consistently out of order. Anti-social behaviour is persisting on the stairwell. It is not particularly well-lit. We have received communication from a person who has a visual impairment who says he finds it particularly difficult to negotiate the stairwell. Something has to give.

I might suggest to the Minister of State that perhaps the Minister with responsibility for local government would make contact directly with Irish Rail and encourage it to make contact with the Richmond Homes entity, to potentially acquire the section of the site that would enable Iarnród Éireann to maintain and manage that stairwell. If the Minister of State were to visit it, he would absolutely agree with me that what is happening is not sustainable. When you come to a point when you have been campaigning for something for five years, you come to the conclusion that those who are overseeing it just do not really care. We need to find somebody who does care to take it over because there are children, wheelchair users, people with mobility issues, elderly people and people who feel vulnerable and afraid who are not utilising that stairwell. Therefore, their access to the public transport network is being curtailed and nobody is a winner in that scenario. I therefore ask the Minister of State to impress on his colleague the need to make representations to Irish Rail so that it would, in turn, make representations to Richmond Homes to acquire the land the stairwell is on in order that it can be maintained in a much more appropriate fashion.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I will absolutely convey Deputy Ó Ríordáin’s concerns and those of his constituents in the community that he represents to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and indeed to the Minister for Transport. I think the Deputy is quite right and justified and he has presented a very reasonable case as to why this problem has to be rectified. I have read some of the local media reportage of it. It is far from satisfactory. I do think there are many ways in which this can be resolved. The Deputy has raised the issue here. He has mentioned that the Minister has soft power, but by virtue of the fact that the Deputy has raised the issue here, he has elevated it. That will also give an added impetus to have it resolved.