Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the incredible hard work done by the board of management of Hartstown community centre. For the last three years, it has worked long hours and made great sacrifices to look after the centre. Over the years the centre has provided vital services from childcare to Sue's reiki and mental health support. There are clubs, dance classes and a stage that is not being used now because it requires renovation. This place is the heart of Hartstown. We know community centres like it all over the country. An audit in 2019 showed it needed urgent repairs and renovation to keep it open. The board of management did what it has always done and fundraised to complete the work needed keep the doors open. It knows the scale of the work required. It has phased reports. It applied for a sports capital grant, for which we all have our fingers crossed this week. It has worked through Covid.

The centre is on church grounds. It was actually built by prisoners in 1985. It is an incredible building. It is run by the community for the community. However, in law the church owns it. That has been a barrier to getting the funds needed to get it up to the spec that is required. I am really glad to say that after a long time, the archdiocese and Fingal County Council are now in direct negotiations about ownership. That is fantastic but it needs to be done urgently. The board of management has been working around the clock for three years. It needs this to be resolved and after that it needs the funding. There is a pot of €5 million from the Departments of Social Protection and Rural and Community Development for community centres like this but there are community centres all over the island which need investment. We need to prioritise that funding for groups like this. We need Fingal and the archdiocese to sort it out. We need to retain the community focus and the people who have driven this community centre need to stay at the heart of this. I call for urgency on this. Again, I thank the centre and its volunteers.