Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 307: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding an application submitted by Dublin City Council in respect of the redevelopment of an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32414/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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My Department provided approval in February 2007 for the inclusion of the project in question Dublin City Council's PPP Regeneration Programme. In response to the downturn in the housing market and the prevailing economic climate in 2008, Dublin City Council suspended its PPP programme, which included a proposal for the regeneration of Matt Talbot Court.

Dublin City Council subsequently decided to examine a range of options to progress a programme of redevelopment at Matt Talbot Court outside of the National Regeneration Programme, including alternative sources of funding. These options are currently under consideration by the Council, and have yet to be forwarded to my Department for assessment.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 308: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding a proposal submitted by Dublin City Council in respect of the redevelopment of an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32415/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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My Department received preliminary details regarding the proposal in question in January 2009 under the Capital Assistance Scheme. In the case of proposals for new housing projects in the Dublin City Council area such as this, it is a matter for Dublin City Council to submit a prioritised list of projects for inclusion in the programme having regard to the merit of the proposals received and the extent to which they will meet local housing needs. In view of the prevailing funding constraints, and existing commitments, this proposal was not prioritised by the Council and therefore my Department did not issue approval to proceed with the project.

The Capital Assistance Scheme will continue in 2012, and the level of Exchequer funding for the scheme will be determined following the conclusion of the estimates process. A decision on whether to issue a call for proposals for new projects will be made once the level of funding for 2012 has been determined and having regard to the level of commitments on existing projects. It will be a matter for Dublin City Council to assess proposals such as this under any new call for proposals and resubmit the proposal to my Department.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 309: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding a proposal submitted by Dublin City Council in respect of the redevelopment of an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32416/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The Government remains fully committed to the regeneration of disadvantaged social housing estates in cities and towns, including O'Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street. In 2008, with the support of my Department, Dublin City Council established a multi-disciplinary Special Housing Taskforce to examine all options with regard to the future regeneration of its six former PPP projects and in particular to examine the fast-tracking of the relocation of households to facilitate future regeneration. Both the Dominick Street and O'Devaney Gardens projects were previously included in Dublin City Council's PPP programme.

Initial proposals for the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens recently received planning permission. A planning decision is awaited in relation to proposals for Dominick Street. The next step in this process is to prepare detailed masterplans, building on the work already done by the Council and Regeneration Boards, which will address the social, economic, and physical regeneration needs of the communities there. In the interim and to facilitate the future regeneration construction works, the City Council continues to receive funding for the relocation of households out of these areas and for the demolition of vacant buildings.