Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senator Gavan mentioned the question of funding the Limerick regeneration project. This is covered by the expenditure in section 1. I simply wanted to say that the social difficulties that existed in Limerick and its suburbs in particular were very apparent to the Government of 2002 to 2007. I visited Limerick on a number of occasions as the Minister with responsibility for justice. It became rapidly apparent to members of the Government at the time that it was not simply a matter of law and order. There were deep-seated difficulties with the geography and social geography of Limerick that needed to be addressed. Large sums of money needed to be invested by way of capital regeneration. This included roadways through Moyross. These things had to happen. Even now they are just about to happen, which is a long wait. It is a long time since I was the Minister with responsibility for justice. We should be careful in future and learn the lessons of Limerick that if we build segregated housing in a manner that ignores the need for an integrated community fabric between all classes in any community, city or county, we build ourselves problems. It was not the economic collapse that damaged Limerick regeneration. The will of the Government at the time running up to the crisis of 2008, and certainly as far as 2007 when I was there, was to do something positive about Limerick and make sure what was happening there was remedied and that the mistakes that were made in Limerick would not be repeated elsewhere in the country.