Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, and thank him for his attendance.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is welcome and I thank him for coming to the House. The Minister of State obviously had a big day yesterday with the big budget. Well done. The Minister of State helped to secure a record budget for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. That is very welcome.

Housing For All is the biggest housing plan in the history of the State. It is set to deliver more than 300,000 homes. I do not believe there is a constituency that needs homes more than Dublin Central. We are coming out of a decade when absolutely no new homes were built. I have brought forward this Commencement matter today because I would like the Minister of State and the Department to provide an update to the House on the delivery of new homes on Dorset Street.

Dorset Street is one of the oldest streets in the city. Everybody knows this. One passes up and down to go to the Phoenix Park, to go to Croke Park, or to go down to Henry Street shopping. The Dorset Street flats at St. Mary's Place is right in the shadow of the Black Church, which is a very famous landmark in the city. The flats have been earmarked for regeneration since 2012. The maths is easy enough to do there - it was 11 years ago. I congratulate the Minister of State and this Government in the progress it has made with this development since the Government was formed, since Housing For All, and since the Part 8 planning permission was granted back in 2022.

The site has the potential to deliver more than 163 homes in a part of the city and the country where they are desperately needed. It also has the potential to not only deliver really high quality inner-city homes but also créche and community facilities. Interestingly, on the site is a very old fire station. It is a beautiful old Victorian redbrick building that Dublin City Council did an amazing job in restoring and conserving, for which I commend the council. It is used as a boxing club. We have Saint Saviour's Boxing Club on site and we have a really great surrounding community but we desperately need homes. We need this development on St. Mary's Place to commence sooner rather than later.

I hope the Minister of State will be able to update the House today on the progress that is being made. When will Dublin City Council break ground on that site? When will we actually start to see construction? In the interim, the site has become such a destination for antisocial behaviour, crime and drug dealing. I thank the city council for responding to my requests and I thank the gardaí for responding to my requests but it had become such a destination for antisocial behaviour the city council had to move to putting up palisade fencing to close off a prime site in the heart of our capital city. That is not good enough but it is really not acceptable that we have this enormous potential to deliver more than one 160 homes and progress is too slow. I hope the Minister of State will give us an update.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for bringing this Commencement matter. I can see that it is very important to the Senator and obviously to her constituents in the Dublin Central constituency.

I will give the Senator the update she is requesting. St. Mary's Place on Dorset Street is an older complex that Dublin City Council advise is in need of modernisation and my Department supports this through the regeneration programme. The housing complex consists of four five-storey blocks containing 113 units and was built in the 1960s. Dublin City Council advise that the buildings generally suffer from condensation, dampness and drainage problems. The council also advise that there are issues relating to anti-social behaviour - as the Senator has already said - and negative impacts of the layout of the complex.

A feasibility study was undertaken to examine alternative options for the improvement of the existing scheme including introducing additional in-fill development, deep retrofitting of housing blocks, and demolition and redevelopment. The study indicated that demolition and redevelopment offered the best outcome in terms of quality of homes, cost effectiveness and improvement of site usage. I have no doubt the Senator is familiar with all of this.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Yes.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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That is worth putting on the record. In April 2020 my Department provided stage 1 capital appraisal approval for the project. The Senator is correct that it has very much moved in a big way since this new Government came in. In March 2022 we provided stage 2 approval in principle. Dublin City Council has advised that planning permission for the complete redevelopment was achieved in 2022. The Senator has already referred to the Part 8 approval. The project will involve the demolition of the existing housing blocks and the construction of 163 new homes and four non-residential units that will provide a multi-use community space, créche, karate, and community facility. Will that also include a boxing club?

Senator Mary Fitzpatrick:It will.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Absolutely. We will call it Saint Saviour's Boxing Club. That space will also include a commercial unit and a café space. The project will be completed in one phase and will provide a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes. This is very important and much needed in the area.

In July 2023 my Department provided stage 3 pre-tender approval, which is just a number of months ago, for the redevelopment of St. Mary’s Place to provide 163 new units. Work is progressing through the eTenders platform on the tender process for the appointment of a contractor to the project. It is anticipated that this process will be completed in quarter 4 of this year with a stage 4 post-tender submission to my Department with work to commence onsite in 2024. The question the Senator will ask is "When in 2024?" Obviously we want to see that happening as quickly as possible.

Dublin City Council advise that this project is part of a long-term strategy for the redevelopment and refurbishment of their older most pressing complexes. For the purposes of information, they advise that a wider review has identified 96 of these older flat complexes for redevelopment and refurbishment in the years 2023 to 2030. My Department has provided various levels of pre-construction approval for the refurbishment or replacement of the following complexes with Dublin City Council: Pearse House; Constitution Hill; Bluebell; School Street; Oliver Bond House; Glover’s Court; Dolphin House; and Matt Talbot Court. We want to see projects receiving approval as quickly as possible. It is very much within the remit of Dublin City Council.

In summary, the update is that at this stage the St. Mary's Place project has gone to the eTenders platform, the work is already done with Dublin City Council and the tender for the appointment of a contractor is under way. At this rate they will complete that in quarter 4 of this year, with stage 4 pre-tenders submitted to my Department, with work to commence on site in 2024.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. It is worth putting on the record the work that has already taken place and the progress being made.There are a couple of words that really ring an alarm bell for me, which are, "Dublin City Council advises that this project is part of a long-term strategy." We cannot wait for long-term strategies in Dublin city anymore. We just cannot wait for the council's long-term strategies. The council really needs to realise more ambition in its delivery when it comes to these projects.

The Minister of State's Department has provided very significant funds and support to Dublin City Council, which he has listed, not just for this project on Dorset Street but for eight other projects. Two of them are in my constituency, namely, Matt Talbot Court and Constitution Hill. The council does not have a director of services for housing and it has an acting CEO. I urge the Minister of State, as the official with responsibility for local government, to please meet with us and with Dublin City Council. Let us review what it will need to accelerate the delivery of these desperately needed homes in the city.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator very much. The Government, through Housing for All, is committed to increasing the supply of social housing to an average of 10,000 social houses per annum between 2022 and 2030. My Department is working with Dublin City Council to progress all schemes for the benefit of all and will consider and support the most appropriate funding streams to enable these refurbishments and replacements to proceed. A large number of these flat complexes will be effectively rebuilt while others will be refurbished and, in some cases, will need amalgamations, for instance, two in one, due to the unacceptable size of some homes.

The St. Mary’s Dorset Street regeneration has the potential to achieve an increased number of high-quality homes with high environmental sustainability. It will provide an opportunity for improved site planning and landscaping providing better access. It will contribute to local regeneration and support the council’s strategic regeneration policies relating to the civic spine, Parnell Square cultural quarter and the Grangegorman campus. More efficient utilisation of the site will enable provision of additional development and density. I look forward to the project advancing on-site in 2024, delivering high-quality social housing in 2025 and 2026.

I will follow up with the local authorities and I will go to Dublin City Council. The Senator made a very valid point. I will meet the local authorities to ask them about their projects and what we really want to see. More specifically, she referred to St. Mary's Place on Dorset Street. We want to see houses being built. We want to see the stage 4 post-tender submission. We need to see that from Dublin City Council in the Department. As I said, we want to see JCBs and workmen on-site in early 2024 or as early as possible in 2025.

Pat Casey (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber.