Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

151. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will implement legislation to ensure that communities targeted for regeneration have their human right to participate in meaningful negotiation regarding such plans as recommended by the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights, Magadelana Sepulveda Carmona. [9792/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department currently supports an ambitious programme of regeneration projects which seek to address the causes of disadvantage in communities and large social housing estates through a holistic programme of physical, social and economic regeneration. Some €70 million is being provided in 2014 to support a range of regeneration programmes at a number of locations throughout the country.

Regeneration goes beyond a bricks and mortar solution in improving the accommodation and lifestyles of residents of run down local authority estates and flat complexes. Regeneration seeks to address the underlying causes of disadvantage and social exclusion and to create vibrant and sustainable communities. The projects supported by my Department take a broad focus, beyond the remediation of the physical environment, also to deliver social and economic regeneration of the areas concerned. My Department takes a holistic approach to regeneration which requires rigorous analysis to select the right solution and strategic planning for a multi-faceted response involving all of the relevant State Agencies and stakeholders. Consultation with residents is a key element in the development of regeneration proposals and my Department provides funding for specialist personnel to engage with local communities to ensure that their views are fully considered and taken into account in the preparation of regeneration proposals.

To qualify for regeneration funding, local authorities and regeneration agencies are required to prepare comprehensive evidence-based masterplans, which provide a vision for the physical, social and economic regeneration of the area concerned and set out a framework for delivering on the objectives of the plan. The plan should include detailed strategies and implementation arrangements for delivering all three strands of regeneration and for addressing the socio-economic and infrastructural deficits that contribute to the social exclusion of the community concerned. Beyond this, regeneration masterplans are project-specific and it is a matter for the local authority, in consultation with tenants, the local community and relevant statutory bodies, to determine the nature and extent of individual regeneration projects.

Having regard to the extensive levels of consultation with local communities in the preparation and delivery of regeneration projects, I have no proposals to introduce legislation in this regard.