Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

The Dublin City Taskforce should really be renamed the "north inner city Dublin task force" because it will not actually impact the south inner city. For instance, Pearse Street and Kevin Street are very important parts of the city and the task force will have no impact there. Dublin City Council has been appointed to head up this new task force and to regenerate the inner city. It is supposed to be doing that anyway. The reason Dublin City Council is not doing it is because it is not getting the funding. This task force says it will get Dublin City Council to fast track and work on the regeneration of the flats in the inner city. Dublin City Council is already supposed to be doing that and working on improving the lives of people living in the inner city. The difficulty is that the funding for the local authorities is not there. It is already Dublin City Council's job to refurbish and regenerate flat complexes right across the city but it will not be doing that because it does not have the funding. The council has already pulled the plug on the redevelopment and regeneration of Pearse House. The conditions in which people are living in the inner city, such as in Leo Fitzgerald House, are absolutely shocking, not just on the northside but on the southside as well. The task force will not actually affect the lives of residents.

Look at Trinity College, which has turned its back on the local community in Pearse Street. If you walk from Trinity College down to Westland Row all of one side of the street is effectively sterile because Trinity College and planning has meant there is no life on that street. Very often there are tents lying open and homeless people on the other side of the street. Senator McCarthy will know well that Pearse Street is lively and active but on the Trinity College side there is that systemic neglect. The Dublin City Taskforce will not address the systemic neglect of the inner city. Dublin City Council has that remit. The local councillors do not and have not had any engagement in relation to this. Looking at the conditions people are expected to live in, the public realm and the lack of employment and educational opportunities for people living in the inner city, they are completely unacceptable and the task force will not solve this. All the task force will do is allow Government Senators and TDs to stand up and say they will do things differently now, even though they have overseen the demise of the inner city for decades.