Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Irish Business Against Litter for telling us what we already know, namely, that Dublin city has become more littered and dirty. The capital was the fourth most littered area surveyed and is less clean than it was last year. It is the fourth survey in a row in which Dublin city has grown worse.

To be honest, there are days when I cannot believe my eyes when I pass streets and alleyways. Even on main thoroughfares very close to this House, there is a pervading smell of wee or weed. Dublin West stretches across two county council areas, Fingal and Dublin City Councils. They meet at the Halfway House pub in Ashtown. The councils are streets apart in terms of cleanliness, responsiveness to emptying bins and addressing weeds and overgrowth. I commend the new political grouping of Dublin city councillors that acknowledged this and pledged to get Dublin City Council back to basics. However, I suggest that this is not just a budgetary issue; it is a structural issue.

It can be very hard to navigate and access the services of Dublin City Council as a member or a public representative. The Taoiseach announced a task force on making Dublin a more thriving, attractive and safe cityscape and a desirable location in which to live, work and do business. We all know how urgent that is, especially given the most recent attacks in the Phoenix Park and on a Canadian tourist. It is important that we show that we are willing to break through officialdom to make this change.

We need reform. I remember standing in the House and saying that Covid had changed the city and we needed a new vision and strategy. We do not have the same footfall in the city; we have a different type of footfall. The city has to adapt. It was an opportunity to make changes and I do not think the leadership on the official side of Dublin City Council was there at the time. We need that leadership now. I appeal for a debate on this issue.