Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I am disappointed the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government is not here. This is a really important issue for so many families living right across the city. There are tens of thousands of people living in flats in inner-city communities that have been neglected for decades. I cannot help but think that the Government is engaging in a form of social marginalisation and is pushing families out from their communities and homes, particularly in older flat complexes such as Pearse House, Mercer House and Markievicz House, which were all build by Herbert Simms not far off a century ago. People's homes have been neglected by the State to the point that many are near unlivable. Residents are being forced to live in completely unacceptable conditions, with rampant mould and pest infestations, broken and outdated utilities, poor security and general dereliction. Massive regeneration is needed across the city to make these flat complexes safe and comfortable places to raise a family.

Residents have been let down time and time again by successive governments, most recently by the shameful recent decision to scrap the regeneration of Pearse House. That has had a devastating impact on so many families. This decision has been absolutely devastating for people in the Pearse House community, who had their hopes callously taken away after fighting for so many years with constant maintenance issues and antisocial behaviour. It is a consistent issue in the flats, all flats and public housing in the inner city. Similarly, over in Mercer House, residents have been dealing with the same issues and have received next to nothing from the State. One family living in Mercer House had four incidents since Christmas of raw sewage flooding out into their flat. There was raw sewage all over the place. Their non-verbal three-year-old child was looking to get in and splash around. It is completely unacceptable and completely unhealthy. The drainage system is nearly 100 years old. It is outdated and not working. The conditions are shocking. I do not have time to list all the problems and issues. This is the reality in flat complexes across the city. Residents in Rathmines Avenue were promised by Dublin City Council that these flats would be regenerated almost ten years ago and they have had nothing done to them. The conditions in their homes are absolutely scandalous. There is no play area, just an overgrown area with wastewater in it, surrounded by dereliction and poverty. Markievicz House is a large flat complex which also has been completely neglected and abandoned by the Government. The conditions there are completely unacceptable, with damp and mould, and weekly sewage leaks. Like all flats, Markievicz House needs to be regenerated.

It has been said that European funding will drive this. Why has European funding not already been allocated to support flat regeneration? Early this week, the Government announced that a new agency was to be responsible for regeneration of the flats and it was going to be headed up by Dublin City Council. This new agency is appointing Dublin City Council to do the work that Dublin City Council has been trying to do for many years but has not got the funding for. They are doing what Dublin City Council is supposed to be doing already.It is just another layer of bureaucracy. Dublin City Council has not been given the funding to do things right for generations so flats in the inner city have been neglected. I do not think the council will get the additional funding it needs. Dublin is going from bad to worse. It feels unsafe to live and socialise in.