andMr. Kyne asked the Minister for Local Government whether any steps are being taken to remedy the appalling conditions under which almost one hundred families are living in the Jervis Street-Wolfe Tone Street area of Dublin city.
29.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Housing Conditions of Dublin Families.
28.
andMr. Kyne asked the Minister for Local Government whether Dublin Corporation applied for a compulsory purchase order under the Housing Acts in respect of the Jervis Street-Wolfe Tone Street area of Dublin city; and, if so, if he will state the date of such application, and the date or dates of any public enquiry arising from such an application by the local authority in the matter.
30.
andMr. Kyne asked the Minister for Local Government if he is aware of the hardship and suffering which has been undergone by almost one hundred families through being compelled to continue living under primitive and unhealthy conditions in the Jervis Street-Wolfe Tone Street area of Dublin city; and if he will state the reasons which have occasioned the delay of more than eighteen months from the date of the public enquiry into the application by Dublin Corporation for a compulsory purchase order in respect of the Jervis Street-Wolfe Tone Street area.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions 28, 29 and 30 together. Dublin Corporation made a Compulsory Purchase Order on 9th April, 1960, for the acquisition of land for housing purposes at Jervis Street-Wolfe Tone Street, and submitted the Order to me on 7th July, 1960, for confirmation. A public local inquiry to consider objections made against the confirmation of the Order was opened on the 15th November, 1960, and was concluded on 21st November, 1960. The inspection by the Inspector who held the inquiry of all the properties proposed to be acquired, the consideration of the evidence taken at the inquiry and the preparation of his report, took an unusually long time owing to the complex nature of the issues involved. The presentation of the report was further delayed by the pressure of other duties on the Inspector in question and also by his protracted illness in the interval since the inquiry was held. The consideration of the report which is now in progress in my Department will be brought to completion without delay. I should say, however, that the rehousing of persons who may be living in unfit or unhealthy conditions in the area affected by the Compulsory Purchase Order is not dependent on the confirmation of the Order and can be dealt with by the housing authority in the normal way.
I understand that the housing authority have, in fact, rehoused a number of families from this area since the inquiry.