Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. Following the announcement by Dublin City Council that the particular public private partnership project envisaged for O'Devaney Gardens would not proceed, my Department has engaged closely with the council to identify the next steps for residents and for the project itself. As part of this process, I have met representatives of the O'Devaney Gardens community and heard their concerns at first hand.

The council is committed to working with its tenants at O'Devaney Gardens to explore options for the regeneration. However, given the economic challenges we now face and the particular difficulties being experienced by the construction sector, progress may not be made quickly enough to meet the reasonable housing requirements of the complex's remaining residents. I continue to emphasise to the council the need to acquire suitable alternative accommodation in the area for those tenants who are anxious to move. I am assured by the council that households in O'Devaney Gardens are being prioritised for transfer under the normal allocations procedures. To support the council in its efforts to make further progress on this, I am taking into account in future funding allocations the rehousing implications arising from regeneration projects such as O'Devaney Gardens.

To date, 110 of the original 280 households at O'Devaney Gardens have moved out of the estate, with more than 30 moving in the past three months. I understand this approach may present a difficult choice for the community. However, in the current climate, it offers the best and most immediate option for providing better and safer accommodation. Every household that chooses to move from O'Devaney Gardens will be given the opportunity to return to the estate once the regeneration has taken place.

From a policy perspective, the impact of the changed economic climate and residential housing sector, which were cited as factors influencing the developers' decision, are being carefully considered by my Department. While public investment will continue to be used in delivering the regeneration at O'Devaney Gardens, the path to securing the private investment needed to build a sustainable, mixed-tenure community is not yet clear. What is certain, however, is that I will not allow a return to sprawling, mono-tenure social housing estates, the make-up of which contributes in no small part to the economic and social deprivation we see in areas such as O'Devaney Gardens.

Building sustainable communities is at the heart of our housing policy approach. These are communities of mixed-income households supported by a business and social infrastructure that provides a wide range of services, including training and employment opportunities, within a well-designed physical environment. It is not possible for the public sector alone to deliver this vision. If we are to work towards building sustainable communities, we will continue to need the involvement of private enterprise in whatever form that takes. The current form of public private partnership is just one option my Department and Dublin City Council are examining.

The council also has established a dedicated task force to identify the next steps for O'Devaney Gardens, both in terms of options available immediately and a longer-term strategy for delivering on the regeneration. In the short term, consideration is being given to strategic demolition and site clearance to address some of the issues of anti-social behaviour and to facilitate the eventual construction works.

My Department remains committed to the regeneration at O'Devaney Gardens. In the short term, every effort is being made to move households with an expressed desire to move into better accommodation in the surrounding area. The longer-term strategy is more challenging given the current economic climate. However, our response to this challenge must not mean a return to the days of deprived local authority estates. It is incumbent on us to explore all options to ensure we achieve our objective of building sustainable communities with the necessary income and tenure mix and with a focus on underpinning social and economic opportunities for all.