Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this matter. I welcome the Minister of State. I am particularly glad that he is present because he has direct responsibility for the matter in question and I look forward to his reply. I am sure the history of the Liberty House project and the relationship among the people who live there, Dublin City Council and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will be acknowledged in that reply.

I wish to briefly outline the history of the project and my understanding of the facts and explain why it is so important that a resolution be found and the project delivered. Liberty House is a housing project located in a prominent and central part of my constituency. The residents who live there and nearby have worked closely with Dublin City Council for many years to draw up a plan and a proposal they can all support. As a city councillor, I was aware of and involved with many other regeneration and housing projects. It was frequently the case that local communities wished to focus on particular matters but that the city council could not always deliver in respect of them.

Since I became involved with the Liberty House project, I have been struck by the degree of consent and agreement that exists between the community and Dublin City Council in respect of the correct course to take. When they approached the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government some years ago to obtain funding and to have the project greenlighted, support was not forthcoming. The residents and, to a degree, Dublin City Council are now in limbo regarding the status of the project and the question of when people's housing needs will be met.

I sought to raise this matter for two reasons. As I have become involved with this issue in my community, what has struck me so much is how reasonable the involved residents are. They articulate with such passion the frustration they have and the urgency of their position. They have also said that if they can act to resolve the issue, they will. I met with these people only this week, when they spoke of the number of actions they would like to take in order to bring the issue to resolution.

Another facet that makes such an impression on me in raising this issue is the support and commitment from the city council in making this happen. The constituency I represent has a number of housing projects that are currently in a state of emergency, as the Minister of State already knows. All of them receive support and leadership from the city council but what is missing and what we are now appealing for is for the Department to help us understand where this project stands. We urge the Minister of State to do everything possible to give a green light to the project and allow it to proceed so the reasonable and entirely understandable frustration of local residents in the community can be recognised and tackled.

It is important to underscore this in the environment we are in at the present economic uncertainty. In the neighbourhood I represent there are many projects currently under pressure and I am concerned this project will not gain the prominence and focus it deserves.

I welcome that the Minister of State is here personally. I ask him to update me on the view of the project from his Department and what he can do to deliver a green light to it and make it happen. If there are outstanding issues, I ask that his Department set up a meeting with residents, the city council and local representatives so we can give this important and crucial project the resolution and success it needs.