Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am seeking an update on the regeneration of flats on the west side of Dominick Street, one of the oldest streets in the capital. It runs from Parnell Street up to Dorset Street and has been home to the Dominick Street flats for many decades. In 2008, Dublin City Council first spoke about the regeneration of the flats. It took the council far too long but, thankfully, in the last 12 months we have seen 72 new, world-class homes being built. They have world-class design standards and quality. This is a very welcome development and I congratulate Dublin City Council, the architects, the builders and everybody else involved in the project.

As I said, the regeneration of Dominick Street was first talked about in 2008. We are now in 2023. Since the new homes were opened on the east side of Dominick Street, the old flats which were vacated on the west side of the street became a destination for antisocial behaviour. I commend the gardai in the north inner city and Dublin City Council for engaging with me, residents and business owners and taking direct action to tackle and eliminate this behaviour. The flats have been boarded up and secured. While I would hesitate to say that all antisocial behaviour has been eliminated, it certainly has been greatly reduced and that is very welcome.

The flats, which have the potential to provide more than 90 homes, are now boarded up and stand as a monument to inactivity and glacial progress. I hope the Minister of State has a positive update for the House and, more important, the city. I hope Dublin City Council is taking direct action to use the incredibly valuable assets it holds in ownership for the people on Dominick Street and its plans to renovate those boarded-up flats is on track and will be delivering homes very soon in the centre of our capital city.