Victor Boyhan (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State. He was here last week on an related matter, which is fairly interesting. Last week I talked about regulation for the public sector compared with regulation for the private sector. If there was a case to be made for my proposals last week, the matter I am raising today illustrates the sort of problems and challenges we have around our public housing.

Let us get to the point. The headline on a recent article by Olivia Kelly in The Irish Times stated that the Government had refused funding for the regeneration of Pearse House flats in Dublin city centre . That prompted me to look into the matter in more detail. I read all of the national papers every day. I made contact with Dublin City Council and some of the councillors involved in Dublin city and I made a number of other inquiries. It appears that the Department of housing and local government has refused funding for Dublin City Council's plans to regenerate the Pearse House complex. I understand that the Department has decided not to fund the proposed project of amalgamating smaller flat units to create new larger homes on the site. The reason cited by the Department is that the council's plans would result in a reduction in the total number of homes, despite the fact that the existing smaller flat units do not meet the current minimum size standards.

The first phase of the work would have seen 78 flats in the 1930s Pearse House complex, which, as a protected structure is a complication in itself, amalgamate into 44 new residential units for the city. That is something that I thought the Minister of State and the Department, and certainly I, would very much welcome. Seven years ago Dublin City Council announced plans to regenerate more than 6,000 of Dublin city's oldest flats, many of which are in a state of dilapidation, under a 15-year plan to raise social housing standards across the city. Many of the older residential flats on Dublin City Council's books simply do not meet the current building standards regarding accessibility, fire safety and building quality and have significant issues, including mould, condensation, sewerage problems and issues around health and safety. All these are issues I spelled out to the Minister of State only a week ago. He will be aware that Dublin City Council was the subject of a 2017 ruling from the European Committee of Social Rights relating to the poor condition of some of its older flat complexes. The Strasbourg-based committee found the human rights of tenants had been breached because of the failure to provide them with adequate housing.

In 2020 Dublin City Council produced plans for the Pearse House complex. The Minister of State is aware of them. The complex has 345 social flats designed by the renowned architect Herbert Simms and built around 1936. There are challenges with these buildings. We know that. The project was to be completed in 11 phases over 12 to 15 years, reducing the number of flats to between 215 and 275. We have not even got the first phase of this plan under way. In response to queries the Department said it was not in a position to support a proposal that would result in significant loss of homes. Surely, it has to be about quality and standards rather than numbers. The numbers are quite small and I am not sure what all that is about. It has been suggested by some that this is simply a delaying tactic by the Department to come behind the scheme. I am not saying that, but it has been suggested.

St. Michan's House, Chancery House, Oliver Bond House and Markievicz House are old complexes that need significant work. We need to show the local authority that we are behind them. I am interested to hear the Minister of State's response.