David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----but I will welcome the Minister of State who hails from that city. It is great to see two Ministers of State in the House from the south east.

I commend the proposers of the motion we are discussing today, which is hugely important. What has come across very strongly in all of the contributions so far is the pride that people have in Dublin city. Despite a lot of the obvious problems in the city, which have been very cleverly and clearly articulated by Members, there is a sense of real pride and passion about Dublin city. There is also an ambition for the city and when one is ambitious about something, one wants it to reach its full potential so one raises the bar and pushes the boat out. That is what Senators are trying to do here today.

We have serious problems in Dublin city. Indeed, we have problems in a lot of cities and towns across the State and on the island of Ireland, as Deputy Phelan said earlier. Dublin is unique because it is our capital city. When one looks at the huge amount of wealth that we had during the so-called Celtic tiger years and the enormous sums spent on various projects, one would wonder whether we got value for money. Given the amount of money that was around, did we really make good use of it? What happened during that time was the price of property was pushed up, some people made enormous amounts of money but the core infrastructure of the city improved very little.

For many people Dublin is not a living city but a surviving city; a barely make the rent city; a scrape together the money for the bus city; a city which costs too much and gives too little back in return. The motion asserts that it does not have to be this way. The potential which exists and which is obvious to all just needs to be exploited and realised. What we need is a genuine public engagement and progressive planning. I know that some Senators have difficulties with planners but obviously we need to plan. If we want to have a vibrant city we must plan. The issue is the type of planning we engage in and who comes first within that. We need a commitment to important basic infrastructure to make the city a decent place in which to live, work and do business. That is what a living city should be.

A living, vibrant city must also mean a city of equals. We must accept the reality that we have a deeply unequal society in this State and that is very evident in Dublin city. One only has to take a ride on the Luas or go into any part of Dublin city centre and one will see the very clear divide in our society. That has an impact on the vibrancy of the city. The job of the Government is to ensure and guarantee rights to the city for all. This means that everyone has access to decent and affordable housing.A living city requires an efficient and properly funded public transport system and other essential services for all, regardless of their postcode or income.

In the past four years people who make up a large number of the city's inhabitants have had to deal with a dramatic rise in the cost of living. Public transport fares have risen steadily year on year, well above the rate of inflation, due, in particular, to cuts to the PSO levy for Dublin Bus. About 60,000 people depend on bus services in Dublin every day, while thousands more use rail services and others the Dublin Bikes scheme. These vital transport services must be expanded in line with the principles of equality of access and service. The Government is planning on privatising 100% of bus services in Waterford city, but 10% of Dublin Bus services will be privatised. This could create problems down the road in the provision of public transport services. Privatisation will create a much more obvious and damaging two-tier system which will see poorer and older Dubliners and people with disabilities potentially left without services.

The greatest failure in Dublin is the lack of decent housing. Well over 20,000 people are on the city council's waiting list for social housing. The vast majority are being told that their social housing needs will be met in the private rented sector. This essentially amounts to the privatisation of social housing. In recent years we have seen people being pushed into the private rented sector and rents have soared as a consequence. The Government has put rent caps in place, which means that people are in tears every day of the week because they cannot find properties to rent. This is all because we are not building housing for citizens, although it is quite obvious that we need to do so.

The recent announcement on housing by the Minister of State falls far short of what is required across the State, including Dublin where 100 people are sleeping rough in each night. Although I love spending time in Dublin, since I was elected to the Seanad, I have seen a marked increase in the numbers sleeping rough in the capital. The problem is staring us in the face. When a tragedy occurs, we all focus on it and master plans are announced. We are told all sorts of great things will happen, yet as time passes we forget and the memories of the individuals involved fade away. We are then back to normal and the focus is lost.

Homelessness is a real issue which needs to be tackled. To our shame there are almost 1,000 children living in emergency accommodation in cramped hotel rooms or bed and breakfast establishments across Dublin city. The Government's response has been to pray for more private developers to arrive and to build 167 council houses before 2018.

I wanted to say a lot more, but, unfortunately, when we are confined to five or six minutes in which there is only so much one can say. I wanted to talk about Georgian Dublin, but I did not get a chance to do so. The arguments have been made very well by the proposers of the motion, whom I commend. I thank the Minister of State for attending the House.