Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State back to the House and thank him for taking this matter which concerns the current status of the inner city Dublin communities that were affected by the collapse of public private partnership projects. When the process collapsed a number of weeks ago, the issue appropriately generated a significant profile both politically and in the media. In the meantime, however, two factors have arisen which prompted me to raise this motion on the Adjournment and seek a comment from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. First, there is a continuing lack of information for the communities concerned as to what the next stage of the project will be. This is not meant, nor should it be taken, as a criticism of Dublin City Council, but that council now finds itself dealing with a scale of issues that goes beyond anything it could have expected. The situation is placing the council in an extremely difficult position, while it is seeking to provide leadership to the local community on the timing of future plans. Factors such as inter-bank lending and the amount of debt that development companies may incur are beyond the council's control. The council is finding it difficult to ascertain what the next appropriate step is and, more importantly, to take any such steps.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government must take as active a role as possible in supporting Dublin City Council to resolve this issue for the sake of the communities involved. Last Friday, I had a number of engagements with the affected communities and it is difficult to overstate the degree of despair among those involved in the projects. These people have spent many years engaging in a process to come up with good designs for their local communities, which have been under great pressure due to anti-social behaviour and local economic decline. The plan was swept away just as there was a glimmer of hope and local people were looking forward to seeing the projects come to fruition. In one case, buildings that were due to be replaced were demolished. The Government should visibly and proactively support the work of the city council in trying to bring the projects to a quick conclusion.

I will conclude with an observation of a resident to whom I spoke this morning about this issue. I also raised this matter on today's Order of Business. He made the point that for many years residents in such communities have been eating dinner on their knees because of the small size of their homes and the conditions therein. Dublin City Council is facing a severe problem that affects these local communities. It is vital for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, together with the leadership and expertise that the Government should be able to muster, to do all it can to support the council and the residents in tackling this grave problem. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could confirm that the Government recognises the scale and gravity of this issue. More importantly, however, the Minister of State should update the House on what the Government can do to resolve this matter, both for the council and the residents who have been so gravely disappointed.

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I accept the depths of public concern he has expressed and the importance of the social issue.

The future of the five PPP projects in question remains a matter of high priority within the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Dublin City Council. At the outset, I want to reiterate the point that has been made previously by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, that public private partnerships are just one approach being used by local authorities to deliver social housing. In addition to the provision of capital funding for new construction projects, authorities continue to expand their housing output through the Part V mechanism, and through long-term leasing arrangements. Funding of €1.2 billion has been made available by the Exchequer to support the national social housing investment programme this year.

Dublin City Council, in particular, has an ambitious social housing programme for 2008, which is not in any way affected by the recent announcement. Some €250 million, or 21% of the total capital allocation nationally, has been allocated to fund housing construction and regeneration activities in the Dublin City Council area and this support will ensure continued strong performance in the delivery of social housing during the year.

Regarding the five PPP regeneration projects in question, the Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government continues to liaise closely with Dublin City Council as it works toward agreement on the next steps for the projects.

In the first instance, I emphasise that the residents of these areas continue to be at the centre of all our considerations. The city council has assured the Department of its commitment to working with its tenants to explore options for moving the regeneration forward and for addressing current housing needs. Accordingly, the council is endeavouring to relocate the remaining residents of these estates. Alternative accommodation has been already identified for the residents of St. Michael's Estate, and offers are being made. The city council has also met the regeneration boards for these areas to apprise them of the current situation.

The city council is engaged in a broad consideration of the social, economic and legal implications arising from the indications given that the projects will not now proceed as planned. Following its discussions with stakeholders and the developer, the council will put forward alternative proposals in order that the process for the regeneration of these areas can proceed. In this context, discussions with the developer are ongoing and I hope these result in clear options for moving forward. It is not possible at this stage, however, to determine the exact route that will be taken. I assure the Senator and the House that the Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government will continue to engage actively with the council in this regard.

Against the background of the viability of the wider PPP regeneration programme, the Department has, I am informed, established a multi-agency group to examine the economic and other factors that were cited by the developer as presenting significant challenges to the PPP model. Nevertheless, the Government is confident that the PPP concept still represents a positive and economically efficient means of supporting sustainable communities through encouraging social, income, and tenure mix. In the future, private finance, in whatever form this takes, will be necessary to achieve these sustainable mixed communities if we are not to return to the age of sprawling, mono-tenure social housing estates, which we now know contribute significantly to economic and social deprivation and in some cases many other problems.

I re-emphasise that the recent announcement will not impact on the wider social housing programme for the city council. With regard to the future of the regeneration projects concerned, the city council continues to be committed to engaging positively with the residents of these areas and the Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government will continue to work closely with the city council to move forward these projects as quickly as possible.