Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a big fan of the Project Ireland 2040 ambition and framework. It is about future-proofing the country, communities and our economy, by looking at population growth, the necessary investment in climate resilience and ensuring we are supporting Housing for All. We do not just live in houses and homes but in communities and the infrastructure must be there. I am aware of the investment that has gone into Project Ireland 2040 in Dublin West but in reality when the supply of community infrastructure does not meet demand it is a serious pinch point in any community and we face it when it comes to community centres, school projects, infrastructure in general. That is when we see real frustration in our communities. At the moment I am getting it about school projects and the speed at which those are being delivered. I emphasise the importance of securing a building for a special school in Dublin 15 called Danu Community Special School. Equally, another school, Ériu Community College, is waiting for its permanent building in Blanchardstown.

One of the biggest success stories we have seen recently is the investment in rural towns and villages that has also happened under Project Ireland 2040. I am referring to initiatives like the town and village renewal scheme, which has been hugely successful. We have Our Rural Future, the Town Centre First policy, CLÁR funding, the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, ORIS, and connected hubs. The big issue is that even though in urban areas we have populations that give us our local property tax and can fund projects through our county councils, there is a hole when it comes to the same projects for urban villages. I work for Dublin West, which is a collection of villages. That gets forgotten. It is not just one big, sprawling area. It is about Castleknock village, Blanchardstown village, Ongar village, Ashtown village, Mulhuddart village, Clonsilla village and Tyrrelstown village, yet we do not have the same opportunities for projects in those villages and we are not getting the kickback and the localism we have seen emerge over the last few years. I can understand how the rural projects are more about addressing dereliction and vacancy and breathing new life into communities. However, we still have the ambition of 15-minute cities for our villages and it is one we want to deliver on. We do not have the same opportunities for our urban villages. I look at opportunities in all the villages in Dublin 15 for community infrastructure, because we do not have enough of it. We do not have enough community centres. We are tight on meeting rooms. We do not have enough community childcare facilities.

Getting the buildings is the biggest issue. A property has come up in Castleknock village. It came up last year and I advocated the council buy it. The council does not have the same access to funding as those in other areas have. That was the feedback I got from the council itself. The building is zoned as community infrastructure already and is in an architectural conservation area. It is a perfect chance to bring an old heritage building back to life. It would fit the criteria for the town and village renewal scheme in a rural area under the building acquisition programme but we do not have the same opportunity in urban areas of Dublin, and we should. The urban regeneration and development fund does not allow for smaller projects like this, so we could amend that. However, the real solution is a town and village scheme that would enable us to buy those heritage properties, vacant properties and bring them to life as community infrastructure in urban areas.