Vol. 452 No. 2
1 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment the meetings, if any, he has had with ICON; his views on the appropriateness of appointing a member of the local community to the board of CHDDA; and the new developments, if any, which have been planned or undertaken to give special recognition to the needs of communities adjacent to the International Financial Services Centre. [7226/95]
31 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for the Environment if he will appoint an additional board member to represent the local Sheriff Street/North Wall community on the Custom House Docks Development Authority in view of the extended plans of that authority to redevelop and revitalise the Sheriff Street Flats area of Dublin. [4945/95]
87 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment if he has received a request from an organisation (details supplied) in Dublin 1 for a meeting to discuss the possibility of having a representative of ICON on the board of the Custom House Docks Development Authority; if he will consider this request favourably; the legislative changes, if any, which are required to facilitate this request; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6909/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 31 and 87 together. I have had no meetings with the organisation referred to.
Under the Urban Renewal Acts, the Custom House Docks Development Authority consists of a chairman and seven other members. The present members hold office until 24 January 1997 and there is no vacancy to which I could appoint an additional person.
The authority has an ongoing community liaison programme which is aimed at recognising and responding to the needs of local communities in the vicinity of the Custom House Docks area. This includes regular meetings with local organisations, including ICON. More specifically the authority, with the assistance of FÁS, has implemented a range of training and development programmes, including apprenticeship programmes, courses in construction skills and business and commercial courses, to provide opportunities for people living in the area.
There will be three programmes this year in the area of community training, an inner city heritage project and an inner city job placement programme. The authority will take over responsibility for managing the North Wall community training workshop next July and this will allow it to provide a preparatory programme of skills training for jobs which arise in the area. The authority will also provide a programme specially designed to prepare local people for employment in the new hotel which has been approved for construction in the area. In addition, the authority will continue its efforts to place local people in jobs which become available under construction contracts which are awarded by the development company for the different buildings on the site.
The initiatives I have outlined can be built on and expanded as the remainder of the site develops. In approving a new planning scheme recently for the extended Custom House Docks area, I asked the authority to improve and extend its linkages with local communities. This might be facilitated by more structured arrangements for liaison and consultation between the authority and representative local organisations, and I am asking the authority to consider how best such arrangements could be put in place. I will keep the situation under review with a view to ensuring that the successful urban renewal programme in the area brings maximum benefits to the local communities.
I welcome the Minister's reply and I am sure everybody welcomes the training programmes that are in place. However, one must compare the amount of money made in the International Financial Services Centre with the social deprivation taking place alongside it. The Minister need only look out his office window to see both sides of the story. If he looks across the river into my constituency he will note the vast social deprivation in the south inner city. In that context, does he agree that members of the local community, if appointed to the board of the Custom House Docks Development Authority, would have a much greater impact on training programmes and the development of the International Financial Services Centre? If we want co-operation between local groups and new businesses in the city we must encourage a local input on such boards.
There is some merit in what the Deputy said. It is important that prestige developments, such as that unfolding in the Custom House Docks area, locate in rundown and derelict areas. Such developments are bringing new life to inner city areas and are replicated on a smaller scale in urban renewal programmes throughout the country. We can do better in involving local communities. The training and Outreach programmes I outlined are a mechanism for doing this and I am determined to achieve set targets in allowing full participation of the local community. The corporation development plans for housing adjoining the Custom House Docks site will also substantially upgrade the living infrastructure of the surrounding communities.
While I welcome the Minister's comments, radical action is required to alleviate the difficulties facing such communities. Will the Minister consider, therefore, appointing a member of the local community to the board?
I will happily consider the matter when the next vacancy arises in 1997.
Will the Minister still be in Government?
I have every confidence I will be around for a while.
