Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I raise an important issue in my constituency, most particularly in Dublin 8, where I live. For many centuries, there has been a market in Newmarket. There is also the Iveagh Markets. There were markets all over this city but, sadly, we have seen the closure of many of them throughout this city.

The Iveagh Markets have been closed for some time and Newmarket has become a place that would not inspire people to go and visit it because it is a bit soulless. There was a market there a number of years ago that brought the community together. This is an urban area. There are people who have lived there for decades and people who have moved in. What was really uniting about everything was that this market brought people together. It was an indoor market. There were different varieties of markets that happened on weekends. There was a fruit market and a vegetable market, a flea market, and a permanent space where you could go and have a coffee with your neighbours, and it was immensely important to our neighbourhood. Unfortunately, people love building in Dublin 8. They love building hotels, apartments and tourist attractions because the area is very attractive to tourists with all the historic parts we have. However, we live there and we want to have an area that is more than just a tourist attraction. When planning permission was put in for a new building that would go there, part of that planning permission was that a market space needed to be made available there. That has been subject to observations and objections over the last number of years as the place lies idle.

I have been contacted by so many people about this issue for almost two years, including when I was campaigning before the different elections, and people are really angry. That place is vacant. There is nothing in there. It is completely soulless and there are markets that want to happen in that area. There is an organised outdoor market at the moment. It happens in the summer to autumn time. It was really lovely. People came back and said it was great to have the market back there again. It is outdoor, however, and we all know what that means. Yesterday was boiling hot, today it is lashing rain and I heard it has been snowing in Tallaght. You could not have a market that would be reliable outside. We need indoor markets.

I have been contacted by somebody who would love to run the market there. They have been told that it would cost €66,000 per annum. That is not a like for like. It is not a culture- and community-based sum being charged. It is a serious amount of money. I would love to know what markets are so successful that they can pay that much rent. People are angry and disappointed and it is wearing the community down. We have this view now that this lovely opportunity has just been taken away from us. What can be done when things are part of planning permission and are granted on the basis of planning permission and then they are being priced out of it? The local community and markets are not able to apply for this. They are being priced out for a reason. The people who own that building clearly do not want to have a market in there. What can be done by the Department to ensure this does not happen again? We have seen this in Dublin 8 with other areas. Dublin 8 suffers in the context of planning permission. I do not know if the Minister of State has been to my community but there is very little green space, so often access to things like green spaces is cut off when student accommodation or co-living is built. It is part of the planning permission that the developer should have it open to it but it applies for retention afterwards. It is not good enough and it is happening time and again in Dublin 8.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I can confirm that I drive through her constituency probably every day getting to Leinster House and I have been in it many times. My brother lived down from the Iveagh Markets in Francis Street, so I know it well.

The Iveagh Markets complex, a protected structure located on Francis Street, Dublin 8, was designed to provide accommodation for street traders. It opened in 1907 but, unfortunately, ceased operations in 1996 and has remained disused ever since. Today, the building is in a state of severe dereliction due to prolonged neglect and damaging interventions, with parts of the structure currently deemed unsafe. Dublin City Council has identified that the first step in resolving the issues with the building is to carry out essential stabilisation and repair works to prevent it from deteriorating any further. Dublin City Council has identified major works that will be required, to include the reconstruction of floor areas, roof and external wall repairs and the rebuilding of collapsed or demolished brickwork sections.

Under urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, call 2, which was announced in 2021, Dublin City Council was allocated €179.7 million in URDF funding for two proposals across the north and south inner city, comprising 27 different projects. In 2023, almost €9.5 million of funding from the URDF was made available to Dublin City Counil for the Iveagh Markets project when it was substituted for another project from the south inner-city proposal. The proposal brought forward by Dublin City Council was to secure the fabric of the structure through a programme of essential works to be carried out to prevent this protected structure from further deterioration. Following the completion of essential stabilisation and repair work, this significant part of the city’s architectural heritage will be secured, allowing Dublin City Council to develop long-term sustainable proposals for its reuse.

Initially the focus was on making the building safe for access, inspection, and survey work. Following a comprehensive dilapidation survey in 2019 and further assessments by the appointed integrated design team, it was determined that immediate interventions were required to facilitate safe entry and roof-level access. These stage 1 works included the installation of a crash deck, limited structural repairs and enabling surveys. They were procured through the Dublin City Council framework for building repair contractors and were substantially completed in October 2024. The current focus is on the main emergency stabilisation works, informed also by the 2019 dilapidation report and the extensive surveys and inspections completed by the internal integrated design team. These stage 2 essential stabilisation and repair works are required to safeguard the structure for the future and are expected to cost approximately €13.5 million. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage gave approval for the final business case for these works in August of last year. These works began last December and are expected to be completed over the next two years. The completion of these works will allow Dublin City Council to consider the viable options for the future use of the market.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for that answer but that is not what I was talking about. However, I am glad he has given me that answer because I can go back and let the people know what they already know about the Iveagh Markets. I was asking about the market on Newmarket. Newmarket is an historic part in the Liberties that is not the Iveagh Markets. I am delighted with this answer because I can go back to them but they and I already know this answer. What I am asking the Minister of State about is the market that does not exist any more on Newmarket because planning came in and a big fancy building was built. They have built lots of fancy buildings in Newmarket but part of the planning permission was that a market needed to go in there. The problem is that the developer is pricing any market stall-holder or market organisation out so that they will not be able to do it and it keeps putting in for permission for change of use. This is difficult for the Minister of State because he has been given a different answer but I really need to know what can be done when planning permission has been put in and we have been told as a community that a market will go in there and then it has not because it is priced out.

Second, the cultural aspect of our city has to be about the residents who live in the city 365 days a year. It has to be about what makes it wonderful to live in the city. I am very proud of living in the city and of being a TD for Dublin South-Central but I do not represent tourists. I represent the people who live in my neighbourhood. If the cultural and community activities are only for people who come for short visits, that is not good enough. What can be done to prevent that happening but also, more importantly, what can be done in this situation in Newmarket where this market is being priced out and is going to disappear? How can I help the community to prevent this from happening and how can the Government put in place legislation that disallows this sort of thing happening?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her kindness in her response in acknowledging that I was given the wrong answer to the question that was submitted. I appreciate that. My understanding from listening to her follow-up is that Newmarket was a community market that operated in an open space and subsequently ceased trading, and planning permission was approved for a development of a structure of some sort. I am not quite sure what the structure was but it was a building of some sort.

As part of that planning permission there was a condition that a market would also be provided in the future for the community. The developer who got that planning permission is marketing the market at €66,000 per annum, which is in excess of €1,000 per week. That is excessive by any stretch of the imagination for someone to conduct a market.

It is clear to me that what the developer is trying to do is to be able to go back to Dublin City Council and say there is no demand for a community market, but if you price something so high you will not get a demand. I hope the Deputy will use her good offices to identify to Dublin City Council what is potentially happening in this space. I am taking this all on what the Deputy is saying. I am not aware of it. If somebody is being granted planning permission to maintain a community space in an area, they should maintain the community space in the area, be it for a market, a playground or whatever. It is critically important in our communities that amenities for the communities are maintained. We need to see progress. We need to see commercial and residential buildings built and sometimes they have to be built on open spaces. However, when it is a condition of planning permission to maintain the community element and amenities in the space they must be protected, and Dublin City Council must ensure they are protected. That is its role as the authority that has given planning permission in the first instance.