Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Deputy Troy and commend him on his role as Minister of State with responsibility for trade. He has been doing tremendous work since taking office in building trade relations and expanding Ireland's trade opportunities, which bring employment. I want to discuss the Intreo office on the Navan Road, which served people in the Dublin 7 area who find themselves without employment. While I welcome the Minister of State's presence, it is disappointing that neither the Minister for Social Protection nor the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works found time to come to the House to address this issue.

The Intreo office for Dublin 7 was an important office for those who need it, for those who find themselves having to turn to the State in a time of need. That office was closed unannounced and unceremoniously back in April. There were 40 or 50 people working there, which reflects how busy the office was, and there were no fewer than ten community welfare officers. That shows the type of need for that office in that area. The staff have been relocated to Parnell Street in the centre of town.

The clients who went to that office on a daily and weekly basis have been left with the option of going into town, dealing with queries online or dialling a phone number that just goes unanswered. We have a large elderly community in Dublin 7 and many of them are not online. It is not reasonable for them to be expected to either hang on a phone all day for no answer, to be told to go online as they do not have access and they are not digitally literate, or to truck into town to Parnell Street. There is very little parking on Parnell Street. The Dublin 7 Intreo office on the Navan Road had parking and could accommodate people who have limited mobility and who depend on a car or on a loved one to bring them to the office.

What I am hoping to get today for the people of Dublin 7 is an answer from either the Minister for Social Protection or the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, which manages the building, on a date for a reopening of that office. I hope they have sent the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, with some good news for the people of the area. I know from hearing from people on a daily basis that it is creating great inconvenience for them. On top of the great inconvenience and upset, it is also a huge waste of State resources. That office is in a brand new building and it is lying vacant. I do not understand why any Department would leave an office like that lying vacant, with no date for putting it back into productive use. I hope they have sent the Minister of State with some good news for the people of Dublin 7 and I look forward to his reply.