Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an issue with which the Acting Chairman is very familiar. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this matter.He will be aware that in 2012 An Garda Síochána undertook a rationalisation programme, which meant that it looked at whether it needed all its stations throughout the country. As a result of that review, a decision was made to close a number of them, some more controversially than others. Specifically in my area, the Garda station at Kill of the Grange, 300 m away from where I grew up, was one of the ones that was closed. The second one was in Dalkey. Those two buildings have lain idle since they were closed in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Dalkey was closed in June 2012 and Kill of the Grange in April 2013. They are two significant buildings. In the case of Dalkey, it is part of the heritage town. The building itself is an old structure full of character and heritage. The Garda station in Kill of the Grange is slightly more modern but it is still a significant landmark at the bottom of Rochestown Avenue.

These are two buildings that could definitely be put to use, but which have been empty or idle since they closed. I know that people have been living in the buildings in a caretaker capacity. That is something the Office of Public Works, OPW, has done and does with other buildings. I understand that it takes time to repurpose buildings such as these and that there is a process that must be gone through whereby an alternative State function is sought, a building is put on sale or a community function is also considered. That is the order in which the alternatives are considered. I do not have a difficulty with any of that, what I have a difficulty with is that the Garda stations have been closed for ten and nine years, respectively. The communities in those areas have no use of those buildings and the people in those areas have to look at them, essentially derelict or unused. Even though people may be living in them, they are not buildings that are interacting with the community around them, which is a real shame because both buildings are significant landmarks. The Garda station in Dalkey is on Tubbermore Road, a residential road, right in the centre of the village. People live adjacent to it. It is such a beautiful building, and it is a crying shame for it to go unused for so long.

In the case of Kill of the Grange, I understand that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has indicated a preference to purchase the building and that a purchase price has been agreed. I also understand that it was done in 2019 and yet here we are in 2022 and there has been no movement regarding the sale of the property. My understanding of the way these things work is that the Valuation Office sets the purchase price, and the council agrees to it. As far as I know, that has been done, yet Kill of the Grange Garda station is essentially empty and derelict. It is a not insubstantial plot. I do not understand why the council has not bought it yet.

What I am looking for today is some kind of commitment that we will move on with these buildings; that we will recognise that they have a role in the streetscape and the community in which they are based. They can be very easily repurposed and they have a value and we should move on with giving them that value within the community.