Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh. I thank the Minister of State for coming here today. My Commencement matter is on the need for the Taoiseach to make a statement on the establishment of a south inner city initiative to support long-term economic and social regeneration of the area, similar to the north east inner-city initiative launched in 2016. In 2016, the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, set up a north east inner city initiative in the form of a multidepartmental ministerial task force, supported by Kieran Mulvey, to engage with local community groups, business stakeholders and other representatives with a view to putting together a number of measures to address the challenges in the north inner city at that time. These included addressing the long-term social and economic regeneration of the area against the backdrop of intergenerational poverty and addiction challenges. While I note and welcome the Dublin task force put in place by the current Taoiseach to address the tourist areas of our city, I am calling for an initiative like the north inner city task force to support residential areas from Cherry Orchard to the south inner city to address the intergenerational inequalities and endemic crime that prevail against the wishes of those communities.

On 17 and 18 May, we had two shootings in close proximity to each other in Drimnagh and Bluebell. Viral footage was going around at the time of gardaí pulling out AR15 assault rifles from garden bushes in residential areas. On the same day, there was a reported stabbing in Ballyfermot on foot of a robbery and on another evening in May alone, 40 car windows were smashed on a quiet residential street in Dublin 8. Terrifying violence on our streets is a daily occurrence. People should not have to live in fear. Neighbourhoods are being rocked daily needlessly and the Government needs to step in to ensure a multidepartmental response to crime and violence in order that we can all feel safer on our streets. It is important that young people are given better opportunities away from the perceived easy life of crime. I will read through the terms of reference of the Mulvey report as they are relevant, given this is what we are looking for in the south inner city. They included short-term responses to immediate challenges facing the community and review of statutory and non-statutory structures for economic development. We had in Drimnagh a local area plan at one stage but this was never acted upon or invoked. It is something that needs to be prioritised in the different communities around the south inner city.

Collaboration with communities and business communities, as well as young people, is vital and we need to see their vision for the future of their areas. We do not need to reinvent the wheel in terms of practices; we need to look at practices and models that are working in other areas and replicate them. Most importantly, we need to recommend long-term measures in areas such as community safety and policing, early intervention and programmes for young people, education, training and employment opportunities for young people, improving the physical environments and the landscapes of these communities, housing, tackling the impact of drugs on community development and in terms of structures to ensure co-ordination between agencies and Departments. Finally, we must identify indicators to measure the progress of a ten-year period. If we do not have the statistics, we cannot see how things are improving or disimproving. I am calling for a similar proposal for the south residential city and I ask the Taoiseach to appoint a chairperson, akin to Mr. Mulvey, forthwith with a corresponding budget, as well as to gather his Ministers to tackle these issues in a cross-departmental way.

Communities are crying our for sports facilities and community amenities for their areas. The system that we have designed for sports capital programmes, however, and the distribution of funds work against communities where they do not own large tracts of land. It creates unequal opportunities for young people compared with their peers in other parts of the city. As Mr. Mulvey surmised in his report on the north inner-city, it is a community rich in assets which is not reaching its potential. When I read this, I understood that by that statement he means people. The very same can be said for residential communities in the south city. The north inner city initiative was ultimately precipitated by drug-related crime in the area. The same issues are prevalent in the south inner city with a great deal fewer resources. It is time now not to leave anyone behind.