I move: That the Bill be now read a Second Time.
Increasingly in recent years, concern has been expressed by many representative bodies and individuals regarding the degree of urban decay in Dublin city centre. The Government have recognised this problem and have responded by launching a special programme of tax incentives to promote urban renewal not only in Dublin but in designated areas in all our major cities. In Dublin large areas of the quays, north and south, as well as a considerable portion of the north inner city have already been designated as urban renewal areas with special incentives designed to promote investment in the construction and reconstruction of buildings. In addition, the Custom House Docks Development Authority will be established on 17 November next to develop this important site on the north quays. Further details regarding each of those major initiatives were given by the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Brien, at a conference in Taylor's Hall yesterday afternoon. These are regarded as extremely important initiatives and I am convinced they will have a major impact in arresting the decay in these areas.
There is, however, one area above all others which for very many people is synonymous with Dublin, that area is O'Connell Street. This street, and the other main shopping thoroughfares, are the areas by which most people, Dubliners and visitors alike, identify our capital city in their minds' eye. This area is their yardstick for forming their opinions of Dublin. Regrettably much of this central and important area now shows visible signs of decay, of insensitive and thoughtless development and change of use, of tasteless advertising and a continuous growth of ugly plastic facades. Problems of litter, of lack of security and excessive traffic have all contributed to a degradation of the environment of this area.
It is now time for all concerned to take a hard look at what has been happening to the centre of our capital city. The area should be a showpiece of architectural sensitivity and environmental awareness but we have instead created a soulless environment which is neither attractive nor pleasant. The present condition of the city centre leads to a general attitude of carelessness and lack of concern on the part of developers, commercial interests and the public generally and a fall off in business in the area. I believe that enlightened thinking and imaginative decision making is badly needed to revive the heart of the metropolis and to make the surroundings in Dublin city centre area more pleasant for visitors and tourists, as well as for Dubliners themselves.
The Bill now before this House was first published last June and received a widescale welcome and support from a variety of bodies, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Dublin City Centre Business Association and Bord Fáilte, to name but a few. I think it is worth recording for the House exactly what some of these bodies said concerning this initiative. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce said and I quote:
Dublin Chamber of Commerce welcomes unreservedly the announcement by the Minister for the Environment of a Metropolitan Streets Commission for Dublin.
The Chamber urged the establishment of a city centre authority as far back as 1978. Focusing resources in a specific problem area such as this is an imaginative approach to environment management. The Commission's integrated brief could well provide a model for tackling other infrastructural problems.
The Dublin City Centre Business Association said about these proposals and again I quote:
Our Association believes that something must be done to get the people involved together in the City and we have fully welcomed your proposals. We shall be doing everything possible to try to persuade all those concerned to look on your proposals in a nonpolitical manner and as a genuine effort to get something done for our national capital. We also believe that it is necessary to encourage both public servants and those involved in private enterprise to work together to try to solve the problems which are bedraggling our city.
I had hoped to have the legislation enacted before the summer recess but this target was frustrated for reasons which, I am afraid, baffle me and, as a result, valuable time has been lost.
The Bill provides for the establishment of a Dublin Metropolitan Streets Commission for a three year period. The general duty of this commission will be to secure an improvement in environmental conditions, in the level of civic amenity and in the standard of civic design in the metropolitan central area. This area is defined in the First Schedule to the Bill as that part of the centre of Dublin running from O'Connell Street through Westmoreland Street, D'Olier Street and College Green to Grafton Street. It is an area which provides prime shopping facilities but should also be a suitable place for Dubliners and visitors to congregate for the simple purpose of enjoyment.
Anybody familiar with the occasional efforts by Dublin Corporation and other organisations to provide concerts, street carnival or lunch time recitals in the area will appreciate how people can be attracted to come to the centre of the city and use its facilities but we need to do far more than this to revive the area. In particular, we must restore the physical fabric of the area to a condition that befits its status.
As I have already stated, for many people, O'Connell Street is synonymous with Dublin but this fine thoroughfare has, unfortunately, quite steadily declined over the years. Some of its famous old landmarks have disappeared and the frontages of many of the buildings are, I am afraid, living proof that planning control does not always work. We have failed to make the best use of the enormous 150 foot width of O'Connell Street where the central median or island has enormous potential. The importance of this median was emphasised in my own party's 1981 policy document on Dublin which proposed the development of a magnificent pedestrian mall in the centre of O'Connell Street, running from the Parnell monument to the O'Connell monument, and adequately protected from traffic. This mall would be tastefully landscaped and planted and contain shopping kiosks and open air cafe facilities. There would be carefully designed street furnishings and special decorative lighting to encourage the night time use and enjoyment of this new leisure mall in Dublin's city centre. In addition, a fountain or other special feature was proposed as a focal point. All of this can and I hope will be achieved, and within a reasonable time scale, under the special provisions of the Bill.
The Government's decision to set up the Dublin Metropolitan Streets Commission is a recognition of the fact that urgent action and a concentration of resources is needed if the revitalisation of the city centre area is to be successfully achieved. The commission are being established for a three year period with a mandate to secure an improvement in the general appearance and condition of the metropolitan central area. Their functions will relate to pedestrianisation, traffic and car parking arrangements, road repair, streetscapes, building facades, advertising signs, street cleansing, litter, amenity facilities and street furniture generally. In effect, the commission will assume the litter prevention and road cleansing and repair functions of Dublin Corporation and the traffic management functions which were to be assigned to the Dublin Transport Authority for the area.
The commission will have power to require property owners to remove or alter any structure, or any structure of a particular class, and to provide suitable replacements, if appropriate. They will have power also to require property owners, where this is in the interests of the amenity and general improvements of the area, to discontinue any use and to remove, alter, repair or tidy any advertisement or advertisement structure. These powers will enable the commission, having assessed the quality of the architectural fabric in the area, to deal with buildings whose facades produce functional and visual conflicts which impinge on the appearance of the area or to tackle uses which are inappropriate in the area. These are important powers as changes in some structures and uses seem inevitable in order to upgrade the area generally. However, I should like to emphasise that this power is not likely to be widely used and there need be no fears concerning needless closure of premises or putting people out of business.
I expect that many of these changes will come about through a process of discussion and negotiation and that property owners will come to accept that it will be of direct benefit to them to co-operate in early implementation of the commission's improvement scheme. I also anticipate that the effect of peer pressure will be considerable, as it has been in certain other areas where attempts have been made to improve the fabric of inner urban areas. Compensation will be payable, where necessary, for loss suffered as a result of the removal or alteration of an authorised structure or the discontinuance of an authorised use.
The commission will have a duty to prepare an improvement scheme for the area outlining the measures needed to renew and improve the area. This scheme will re-inforce and complement the planning system. All development in the area, whether carried out by the commission or by other persons, will be exempted development for the purposes of the Planning Acts where it is certified to be consistent with an improvement scheme prepared and approved under section 6. For other developments, Dublin Corporation or An Bord Pleanála, in determining a planning application relating to development in the area, must have regard to the provisions of an improvement scheme and permission for a proposed development may not be granted without the consent of the commission, if it would materially contravene the provisions of that scheme. The consent of the commission may also be required before permission is granted for development which is of a class specified in regulations made by the Minister.
The commission will have up to seven members. It will receive up to £10 million from State funds over the three years of its life. It will also receive a contribution in lieu of expenses which would normally have been incurred by the corporation in the area, for example, on litter prevention or street cleansing. After three years, the commission will be dissolved and its functions will transfer back to Dublin Corporation and the Dublin Transport Authority. It is the intention, however, that the area should retain a special status and with that in mind the provision in section 2 (3) of the Bill will remain as a permanent feature of the law. Under this section, Dublin Corporation, in the discharge of their functions, must have regard to the special importance, in the national interest, of the metropolitan central area and to the need in that interest to ensure a high environmental standard and a high standard of civic amenity and civic design in the area. In this way, the work of the commission will endure and be preserved.
There has been already a suggestion that the Bill poses a threat to local democracy. I am satisfied, however, that it presents no such threat and would like again to take the opportunity to clarify matters concerning the role of Dublin Corporation. The corporation carry a heavy burden in generally administering local services in the county borough as a whole. It is a multi-faceted authority which has a variety of responsibilities and I see great merit in establishing a single purpose, single function authority with a clearcut mandate, budget and timescale and in transferring to that authority from a multi-purpose authority such as Dublin Corporation particular tasks in order that a specific objective can be attained.
The Metropolitan Streets Commission is needed to give a once-off boost to the area and provide the necessary concentration of resources. This part of the city is a national asset — going well beyond the needs or concerns of Dubliners alone — and deserves immediate and special attention if progress is to be made towards the desired regeneration. The corporation will have a major part to play in assisting the commission in the implementation of its functions and specific arrangements can be made for co-operation between the two bodies. Indeed while I am on this point, I have already stated my intention to invite the Dublin city manager to become a member of the commission in order to bring his expert knowledge and wide expertise to the deliberations of the commission and to encourage a good working relationship between the commission and corporation. There is also no question of a permanent erosion of powers: after three years, the powers assigned from the corporation to the commission will be transferred back to Dublin Corporation.
I am very pleased that the proposal to establish the commission has been welcomed by business representatives in the area, by tourist and environmental groups and by the public at large. I hope — and indeed feel confident — that these groups, particularly the business community, will co-operate fully with the commission. Their response will be a crucial factor in securing the objectives of the improvement scheme for the area. But the response of the public at large will be equally important and if the right ambience is created it will heighten respect and awareness for this area and it will generate a momentum for urban renewal and pride in the city.
A detailed explanatory memorandum has already been circulated with the Bill and I do not therefore propose to deal at this stage with all of the individual sections. It is appropriate, however, to draw attention to the main operative provisions in sections 6 to 12.
Section 6 provides that the commission shall prepare an improvement scheme or schemes for the area. The scheme or schemes will be a blueprint for action and will require the approval of the Minister. All development that is carried out in the area by the commission itself and all other development which is certified by the commission to be consistent with an improvement scheme prepared and approved under the section will be exempted development for the purposes of the Planning Acts. Other development in the area requiring planning permission must not materially contravene the provisions of a scheme made and approved under the section unless the commission consents. The section also provides that the Minister may prescribe certain types of development for which permission may not be granted without the consent of the commission.
In preparing an improvement scheme the commission will consult with Dublin Corporation and the Dublin Transport Authority, have regard to the development plan made by Dublin Corporation under the 1963 Act and make arrangements for the making of submissions by interested persons in relation to the scheme which will be considered by the commission. There is, therefore, a reasonable opportunity afforded to Dublin Corporation to influence development in which the commission is involved and also the views of other interested persons will be taken into account.
Section 7 provides for the transfer from Dublin Corporation to the commission of all functions in relation to the construction, maintenance and improvement of public roads in the metropolitan central area. This will, for example, enable the commission to introduce pedestrianised areas, with special paving or better quality footpaths if they consider these to be needed. Section 8 provides for the transfer of a variety of traffic management functions in the metropolitan central area from the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána and the Dublin Transport Authority to the commission.
Section 9 will confer on the commission the powers available to local authorities in relation to refuse collection and litter prevention and control. This is an important provision as it is imperative that whatever measures are needed should be taken to counter the litter problem and to provide a refuse collection and removal service more appropriate to conditions in the area.
Section 11 will enable the commission to serve a notice requiring the removal or alteration of a structure, the discontinuance of a use, or the removal, alteration, repair or tidying of an advertisement structure or advertisement where this is provided for in an improvement scheme which has been made and approved under section 6. In the event of failure on the part of the owner to comply with a notice under the section, the commission may enter on the land and carry out the specified works itself and, where the structure is unauthorised, recover the cost from the owners. Continuance of a use in contravention of a notice will be an offence, the penalty for which, on summary conviction, will be a fine not exceeding £1,000.
The provisions contained in section 11 in relation to compensation are based entirely on corresponding provisions in the 1963 Planning Act and are the minimum necessary having regard to the constitutional provisions relating to private property. Compensation will only be payable where a person who is an owner or occupier of a structure in the metropolitan central area is served with a notice under section 11 and suffers damage by compliance with the notice. Compensation will only be payable in the case of authorised structures or uses. There will be no payments in respect of premises outside the area.
I do not expect that there will be great need for the use of section 11 as I expect that there will be a good deal of co-operation from owners in improving premises at their own expense. I do not, therefore, envisage that a significant proportion of the commission's resources will be absorbed by compensation payments. However, as a safeguard against the likelihood of large compensation claims, I will be using my powers under sections 10 (8) and 12 of the Bill to give a directive to the commission on the need, in operating section 11, to consider the possible consequences of their actions and the limited resources available to them.
Section 12 provides for the making of grants of up to £10 million to the commission, to cover the costs of improvement works in the area.
In addition, the commission will, under section 12 (3), receive an agreed contribution from Dublin Corporation in lieu of expenses that would otherwise have been incurred by them in the metropolitan central area. This would be in respect of, for example, litter control or refuse collection activities in the area which would be carried out by the commission instead of the corporation. There is provision for the determination by the Minister of the amount involved in the event of any disagreement.
This is an important Bill and one which I believe should be passed into law as quickly as possible. There is an urgent need, recognised by virtually everybody, to enhance the quality of the centre of the capital city and I am convinced that the establishment of the Dublin Metropolitan Streets Commission is the best way to achieve this. It is long past the time for action to replace words and I consequently strongly commend the Bill to the House.