Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 29 Apr 1997

Vol. 478 No. 4

Private Members' Business. - Investment in Dublin: Motion.

Mr. S. Brennan

I move:

That Dáil Éireann condemns the Government for its general neglect of the Dublin area and calls on the Government to:

— invest further in transport and road infrastructure, bring forward an effective management plan, and urgently complete the Ring Road, link routes and by-passes;

— provide for the proper physical and environmental planning of the area;

— order a special study of the underground option for Luas in the city centre and proceed with the lines to Sandyford, Tallaght and Ballymun without further delay;

— introduce measures to tackle Dublin's high unemployment rate and the public housing shortage;

— invest further in the health and education services in the city and county;

— provide extra Garda resources to combat Dublin's drug abuse and crime generally;

— instruct the IDA and other State agencies to attract more industrial, tourist and service projects for Dublin and

— introduce measures to effectively tackle Dublin's traffic gridlock and to deal with the taxi, late night and other public transport issues.

I wish to share my time with Deputy Briscoe.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. S. Brennan

Fianna Fáil is moving this motion to highlight the neglect of our capital city and county by the present Administration. We wish to draw attention to what needs to be done and the lack of progress being made. This motion was necessary to point out that the Government has no coherent, integrated policy to tackle the difficulties facing the citizens of Dublin.

In the midst of an economic boom and increased tax revenues, Dublin has fallen behind and been neglected by this Administration.The Minister for Equality and Law Reform knows that there is an appalling crime problem in Dublin and that the drugs problem is virtually out of control, particularly at night. Dublin suffers from serious unemployment blackspots. In some estates unemployment is as high as 40 per cent.

Dublin's oppressive traffic, erratic and underfunded public transport and haphazard planning laws are all causing concern. We are trying to develop a modern city and county fit for the citizens of the 21st century. However, we have a city and county plagued by crime, unemployment, traffic gridlock, poor planning and poor public transport. Dublin is desperately in need of an overall vision for the future.

This motion calls for further investment in the transport and road infrastructure, the bringing forward of an effective management plan and the urgent completion of the Ring Road, link routes and by-passes. It also calls for the provision of proper physical and environmental planning, the ordering of a special study for the underground Luas option in the city centre and the completion of the light rail lines to Sandyford, Tallaght and Ballymun without delay. We call for the introduction of measures to tackle Dublin's high unemployment rate and the public housing shortage which is increasingly evident.

Fianna Fáil is calling for more strategic investment in health and education services in the city and county, additional Garda resources to combat the drugs problem and crime and for the IDA and other State agencies to attract more industrial, tourist and service projects to Dublin. Measures should be undertaken to tackle traffic gridlock, with particular emphasis on the problems of taxis, late night buses and other public transport issues.

I have called on many occasions for an independent study of the underground option for light rail. No one believes that Luas will be able to share space with existing traffic. It is physically impossible to give up two lanes in Dawson Street or Stephen's Green or one lane on either side of O'Connell Street and believe that this will alleviate the traffic problems. It will make the situation worse, not just during construction but after the system is in place. There needs to be a rethink of the city centre section of the light rail.

A CIE study has stated that the underground option is too expensive. However, people such as Dr. Garret FitzGerald have suggested otherwise. The unified proposal group, which studied the possibility of the underground option in the city centre, concluded that it would be cheaper over a number of years. Whatever the accuracy of these statements, it is clear that the Government has commissioned no independent study into the cost of running Luas underground in the city centre. The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications consulted Mr. Maurice Doyle, former Governor of the Central Bank, on this matter. I have seen no statements regarding the outcome of those consultations but I would be interested to know Mr. Doyle's view.

The Minister needs to commission an independent study, separate from CIE or any of the consultancies attached to CIE. This would provide us with the cost of this development over and above what is currently planned. We will then know if the cost is significantly higher and whether the additional costs can be raised from Structural Funds, private investment or low interest bearing bonds. There are a number of financial options which could bridge the funding gap. There will be a gap but it will not be as large as has been speculated.This is one of the most important decisions facing Dublin city.

During the construction phase of Luas, the Government should introduce a short Bill to establish a special controller. This supremo would have the statutory obligation and authority to ensure that the construction of Luas, one of the largest projects ever undertaken in the city, does not become an unholy mess. He would ensure that the various services co-ordinated their work so that the construction phase flows smoothly. He would also ensure that the public was informed of new traffic regulations and that timely announcements were made regarding street closures.If such an individual is not appointed, our present traffic problems will seem like chicken feed in comparison to what will happen during the construction of Luas.

If this construction is not co-ordinated by order of the House, we will see road rage on an enormous scale and that will not be a pleasant sight. I am calling for the appointment of a traffic supremo to oversee the construction of Luas in the city centre.

The airport must be serviced either by the Luas system or by a heavy rail link. We cannot continue to develop a major airport without also establishing a public transport link to the city centre.All political parties agree on that, but there must be the necessary political will to do it. I question the wisdom of Aer Rianta spending millions of pounds on car parking facilities at the airport.There are now almost 40,000 car parking spaces. Would it not be better for Aer Rianta to invest some of that money in a joint venture with CIE or other investors to provide a public transport link from the city? We should demand that Aer Rianta invest in such a link. It is not simply a matter for the Exchequer or CIE alone. Aer Rianta should establish a better balance between the enormous rush to build car parking spaces and the building of a public transport link to the airport. That should happen as a matter of urgency, as should the Luas extension from Dundrum to Sandyford, to which all sides of the House are committed.

The suburban rail systems in general should be upgraded. My colleague, Deputy Burke, informs me that the trains which service the north side of the city are overcrowded. It is increasingly obvious that suburban trains require more investment and support. Deputy Burke conducted a survey in his constituency recently and it showed that the public believes more attention should be paid to the upgrading of suburban railways to make them more efficient commuting instruments.

The major roads project in the city is the ring road. A substantial part of the road has been constructed but the Government is dragging its heels on completing it. If the C route, as it is called, is to be built, it cannot be stopped after one half or two-thirds has been completed, nor can a gap be left in the road. Otherwise, traffic will simply flow into housing estates. The Government should apply more pressure to ensure the ring road is completed. I understood construction would commence this year and that it would be ready by the end of 1998. I am now told the completion date has been deferred by two or three years. That happened by stealth because there was no announcement from the Government. What is happening with this road and why is it not being completed? Will the Minister ensure it is completed?We cannot go through four years with a half finished ring route. There are delays of up to half an hour at the end of the route at Firhouse during peak times. It is critically important that this road, which was started many years ago, be completed as quickly as possible.

Many by passes have been promised for villages throughout the city. Villages such as Dundrum have been promised bypasses to take traffic around them but there is no sign that these projects will go ahead. The Government must ensure that link routes and bypasses are constructed. The funding for this work has been available through the Structural Funds for years but the Government has delayed getting the job done. If this work is completed it will make a substantial contribution to reducing the traffic problems in Dublin.My party will give every support to those projects if they can be progressed. Can the Government explain why the completion of the ring route has been deferred for another two years? Is that the final date or could the project be delayed further?

There should also be better environmental planning. Planning laws in the city and county must be better implemented and where stronger laws are necessary they should be provided. One can still drive past buildings and wonder in awe how the builders got planning permission to build them. No sensible person could sign their agreement to such buildings. Anybody can see they should never have received planning permission. There are examples of such buildings throughout the city and county. It is important that planning laws are implemented more strictly.

The halting site programme is an important and controversial issue. We must do our best to ensure halting sites are constructed sensibly following negotiations with local residents. In the case of the Sandyford halting site, the Supreme Court criticised the county manager for not approaching its construction on a proper planning basis. The judge did not go so far as to say the halting site programme should require planning permission, but he went close to it. If the programme went through the planning process, there might be more progress on some sites. The process could facilitate the public being involved in negotiations about the size and location of sites and it might lead to more progress on their construction.

Planning permission should be required for the halting site programme. It would ensure movement on the programme, which at present appears to be all but dead, and put it within a structure. It is not legitimate, even if it is for the good cause of looking after the travelling community, to wantonly spoil the environment by not applying the planning laws to the way in which the halting site programme is managed. We need to re-think our approach to this issue, not only for the sake of the travelling community but for the sake of the county's future development. We cannot simply pick every green area and locate a halting site there just because the area is in public ownership. There must be a proper planning process with full consultation with the travelling community and settled residents. One can only move forward in that manner.

A number of other matters must be borne in mind in the development of Dublin city and county. My colleague, Deputy O'Donoghue, has spoken many times about the crime and drugs problems in the city. About 1,000 crimes are committed each week in the county and only one in three of those crimes is ultimately prosecuted. A recent survey of 30,000 homes in Dublin south-east showed that 16,000 homes had been burgled in the previous two years. That is a significant statistic which demonstrates the level of crime. The Government must ensure that the Garda Síochána and the laws are sufficiently strong to tackle that problem. When I visit Garda stations in the course of my work as a public representative, I am told each station needs more motorcycles, cars and staff. We cannot supply all their requirements but we must ensure such resources are targeted. We must give gardaí the necessary resources to do their job.

Dublin Port now handles about 40 per cent of the trade of the entire State. It needs more investment planned on a long-term basis. We need to make urgent decisions about the port access route and the tunnel. There is too much prevarication on this matter. Trucks heading to and from the port are clogging up the city. If we do not make progress on the problem, it will get substantially worse.

The DART runs until 11.30 p.m. In a modern city heading into the 21st century, teenagers must queue for taxis at 2.00 a.m. because our public transport system is shut down. We need to ensure that buses and the DART run until 2.00 a.m. or later. There is no argument for shutting down at 11.30 p.m. and leaving hundreds of thousands of teenagers stranded, strolling home or queueing for taxis. The Government should speak to the CIE Group about this matter and get some changes made as quickly as possible.

The motion also asks the IDA to do more in the city and county. It needs to plan its investment better and to introduce a programme for the Dublin area, outlining its potential investment plans for the future.

Earlier today I met a deputation from Tallaght regional technical college, about which the Minister, Deputy Taylor, knows a great deal. The college is anxious to increase student numbers. Its intake is up about 40 per cent, compared to a national average of 7 per cent. It is bulging at the seams and has asked for an extension to the premises, which will cost £7 million or £8 million, but has been unable to get a commitment from the Department of Education or the Department of Finance. It appears they will be turning away pupils in the next academic session. There are about 2,000 part-time and full-time pupils attending the college. In the next four years, that figure will increase to 5,000. I ask the Minister and his colleagues to look at the college's case. Tallaght is a rapidly growing area which we on this side of the House have always supported in terms of the development of the Square, the regional technical college, the hospital and the Garda station. We have been centrally involved in all of these issues. It is important we invest in this project.

In terms of the future of the city and county, a place such as Temple Bar needs to be carefully watched. It can either be a jewel in the crown and extremely successful or it can turn out to be a disaster for the city and county. This would be a pity. The area needs to be policed and developed in a co-ordinated manner so that the original vision for the area, of a cultural centre with small commercial and residential units, accommodation etc., can be realised in an organised way. If this happens, we will have a French quarter in the city. If it does not, the area could become a major social blackspot in the future. Some Government will have to remedy the problem and rescue the area. I am not the only one to warn of this problem, many have done so in the past weeks. We should be extremely careful in dealing with any problem which develops before it gets out of hand. I have received disturbing reports about safety aspects. It is a fine area which needs our full support.

While the economy grows, this city has increased crime rates, major unemployment blackspots and oppressive traffic with which the Government has no proposals to deal. It has haphazard planning laws and an underfunded public transport system. All of these issues need vision and political willpower to make sure the city and county we pass on to the next generation will be one of which all of us can be proud.

Mr. Briscoe

I am grateful to Deputy Séamus Brennan for sharing his time with me. He painted in broad brush strokes the need for actions to be taken in Dublin. I will paint in small brush strokes and in greater detail the kind of problems we are suffering from, particularly in the inner city.

I recently carried out a survey of the bus services in my constituency. People are greatly dissatisfied with the level of service they are getting. Deputy Brennan told me this evening that as part of our policy we will carry out an examination into the proper provision of bus services. The complaints on routes served by a number of buses are not as severe as those on routes serviced by one bus. There are delays and people are jogged around in dangerous "Imp" buses.

I ask the incoming Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, who I hope will be Deputy Brennan, to abolish these badly sprung and dangerous buses. Passengers stand in them when they are not supposed to and people are thrown about. I have received letters of complaint about this matter. We need Cityswift buses, which operate on routes such as Blanchardstown.

Unfortunately, the people who are being neglected are those in the settled areas — older people who avail of free travel in areas like Captain's Road and Cashel Road in Crumlin and Kimmage and parts of Drimnagh. Dublin Bus seems not to be interested in providing a good service, although I hope I am wrong. We sent out 25,000 questionnaires and we got a very good response from people. The results have been forwarded to Dublin Bus for a response, which they have promised to give.

I ask the incoming Taoiseach, who will I hope be Deputy Bertie Ahern, to appoint a Minister of State with responsibility for Dublin to deal with the problems of the city. Dublin's inner city, particularly the south, is badly neglected. For some reason, moneys seem to go to the suburbs. There are, of course, areas like Tallaght, in the Minister's constituency, which are in need of funding but some of the schools in the inner city have been horribly neglected.

There are many problems in schools in disadvantaged areas which do not just involve children from the inner city going to schools across the canal in the Crumlin or Drimnagh areas or wherever they can be placed. Classrooms are overcrowded and there are many children from problem families but there are no teacher counsellors. Such counsellors are needed in those areas. Unless we take the problems in the city seriously, there will be dreadful difficulties in the future. Substantial investment is required.

I attended a meeting last night with my constituency colleagues, the Minister of State, Deputy Gay Mitchell, Deputy Upton and Deputy Eric Byrne, of the Rialto Development Association.This marvellous organisation runs a day care centre and it intends to make a submission soon for approximately £0.75 million. It counsels people with drug problems and the Eastern Health Board has provided funds. The organisation works under difficult circumstances, providing drug counselling in an inadequate setting. Money is required for this service and a proper community hall for a large population. The level of voluntary participation is enormous and it involves marvellous people. I have represented the constituency since 1981 and there has always been a good level of participation in every aspect of community life, particularly in the Rialto-Dolphin's Barn area. These people need encouragement and the Government would get a huge return on an investment of £1 million in terms of lower crime rates, fewer drug problems and increased counselling.

Another major problem in Dublin city is water pressure. I received a letter today from a lady who said that she gets one and a quarter pints of water from the kitchen tap at a time and the water supply then comes in a tiny trickle or just drops. It takes another five minutes before she can get any more water. If the toilet is flushed it takes an hour and ten minutes for the cistern to refill and there is no water in the kitchen tap in the meantime. Her mother is elderly and in very bad health. She can only do housework at night or on Saturdays and it is a constant battle to get water from the tap from the time she returns from work until she goes to bed. If she had a washing machine she would be unable to use it.

Water pressure in different parts of Dublin, such as Walkinstown and Terenure, is a dreadful problem and almost 50 per cent of the water leaks from the pipes. The European Union has said no more funding will be provided for new pipes until the existing leaks are repaired. The Government has embarked on a scheme which will take up to five years to complete. However, these problems must be addressed and a policy decision to do something about them must be made.

Massive refurbishment of the Oliver Bond flats complex has been carried out and Deputies who represent rural constituencies should visit this area to see what has been done. People no longer want to leave the complex and others are queuing up to live there. The flats complex in Dolphin's Barn in my constituency has had its problems but it has a good committee. The community is relatively settled but people continue to apply to the corporation for rehousing. However, if £5 million was spent on a proper refurbishment plan, people would want to stay there. I attended a meeting of the committee yesterday and it agreed that if proper refurbishment was carried out people would remain in the complex and others would want to move there. We will get nowhere unless that type of investment is made. There is an old saying that "the poor are always with us" but these problems will always be with us unless action is taken.

Plans for a war on poverty and suggestions on how to reduce it have been mooted. It has been said that Ireland has one of the worst poverty problems in Europe but the return on a relatively small investment in the flats complexes would result in huge savings relative to the cost of building more houses to accommodate the people who want to leave these areas. I do not blame those people and Dublin Corporation must be given the money to address this issue.

The facilities for inner city schools are diabolical.Schools in areas such as Basin Lane have no gymnasiums or proper facilities for pupils. The Christian Brothers who run that school do a magnificent job. The premises are painted and clean but funding for schools in the south inner city is grossly inadequate. If we want to solve the problems in the city, the flats complexes must be refurbished and teacher counsellors must be provided in schools for children with problem parents.Most problem children come from a home with problem parents who need assistance which the State is unable to provide. Proper bus services must also be provided for these areas and my colleagues agree with my points about the water pressure problems.

There is also a need for surveillance cameras, such as those on O'Connell Street. Civil liberties people object to the use of surveillance cameras but crime would diminish if such cameras were placed where the roads meet at the South Circular Road and towards Crumlin and Dolphin's Barn Bridge. Traders in the area favour cameras and such an investment should be made because the return would be substantial.

The Government should also consider the inner tangent route to remove traffic from the centre of the city. There were plans for such a route some years ago but the usual people objected to them. I remember the objections to the motorway through the Liberties on Clanbrassil Street. The people who protested were led by The Irish Times but the road is magnificent. The air is cleaner and new apartment blocks have been built in the area. The inner tangent route is opposed by the same people and it will take a Government with gumption and guts to decide to build the road. In the short-term people think such plans are terrible but in the long-term they recognise it was the right move and their areas were not destroyed. There will be gridlock in the city until a proper inner tangent route is developed.

I agree with Deputy Brennan about Luas. I have had grave misgivings about the project for some time because it will make the problem worse. The underground option must be considered.

Minister for Equality and Law Reform (Mr. Taylor)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all the words after "That" and substitute the following:

"Dáil Éireann notes the achievements of the Government in promoting the social and economic development of the Dublin region and, in particular,

— notes that the Operational Programme for Transport, 1994 to 1999, provides for investment in excess of £600 million in transport infrastructure in Dublin;

— notes that water and sewerage schemes for the greater Dublin area, with a final estimated cost of more than £400 million, were included in the Department of the Environment's water and sewerage services capital works programmes for 1997;

— notes the very significant positive impacts which Dublin has experienced under the urban renewal schemes, particularly in Temple Bar and the Custom House Docks area which is now to be subsumed into the regeneration initiative for the much wider dockland area;

— supports the Government commitment to construct the core light rail system to Ballymun, Cabinteely and Tallaght recommended by the Dublin Transportation Initiative and welcomes the practical initiatives which have been taken to implement that commitment as quickly as possible;

— notes the significant range of measures which are now in place to tackle long-term unemployment;

— notes the progress made in meeting social housing needs in the Dublin area and welcomes the Government's recent commitment to the comprehensive redevelopment and regeneration of the Ballymun estate;

— commends the Government for the sustained and wide ranging improvements in the health and personal social services implemented in Dublin;

— commends the Government for the significant increase in education services in Dublin city and county;

— welcomes the implementation of the recommendations of the first report of the Ministerial Task Force on measures to reduce demand for drugs and supports the Government in its policy to deal with the drugs and crime problem, not only in relation to the deployment of Garda resources on the ground in Dublin but also in the action it has taken on a broader front to combat the drugs menace;

— notes the excellent job creation record of the relevant State agencies in the Dublin area with the creation of over 6,000 new jobs in 1996 and overall employment in the year to April 1996 increasing by a record 26,200;

— notes that the average annual rate of jobs growth in the Dublin region for April 1994-96 at 5.2 per cent was well ahead of the jobs growth rate nationally;

— acknowledges the success of the Government's overall tourism policy and its positive impact on the Dublin region;

— notes the provision made for cultural institutions, venues and activities;

— notes the success to date of Operation Freeflow and the commitment of all of the agencies involved to repeat that success under the second phase of the operation which was launched last month;

— and notes the recent initiatives by the Dublin local authorities to address the public demand for more taxis".

This motion is wide ranging and in the time available it will not be possible for me to deal in detail with all the issues or to outline all the initiatives taken by this Government to promote the social and economic development of the Dublin region. Instead, I propose to outline briefly the outstanding record of achievements of this Government and to begin in the transport area.

One major criticism of transport planning in the Dublin area under previous Administrations was that things were done in a piecemeal fashion without a proper co-ordinated approach. The first step in dealing with this problem came with the publication of the Dublin Transportation Initiative's final report in August 1995. This Government wasted no time in bringing DTI's plans to fruition. In November 1995 my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, established the Dublin Transportation Office, thus delivering on a key commitment in the policy agreement, A Government of Renewal. The office is charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the DTI strategy.

However, we were not satisfied to leave the issue of effective management and co-ordination at that. It was obvious that the fragmentation of responsibility for individual aspects of traffic management and enforcement had contributed to a failure to adequately tackle congestion problems in Dublin. We resolved, therefore, to make fundamental changes. As the principal focus of traffic management and enforcement relates to the administrative area of Dublin Corporation, the Government decided that the corporation should appoint a director of traffic. Following a consultancy study to identify the organisational requirements needed, the director was appointed last month.

Coupled with this initiative, the Dublin Transportation Office was asked to develop a plan for the purpose of relieving traffic congestion in the centre of Dublin. The DTO, acting with the active co-operation of the gardaí, Dublin Corporation and the Department of the Environment, produced that plan, which came to be known as Operation Freeflow. The resounding success of that operation is well recorded. It was due to the positive response of the various public agencies and the great co-operation of both road users and the Dublin business community. The second phase of Operation Freeflow was launched in March.

Transport investment in the Dublin area is now being implemented and financed in a co-ordinated way on foot of the DTI strategy. Total investment of well in excess of £600 million is envisaged in the period 1994 to 1999. This includes over £300 million on roads, almost another £300 million on public transport and £34 million for a range of traffic management measures. This could hardly be described as neglect.

Within the DTI process, the completion of the Dublin ring road was identified as a key element in solving Dublin's traffic problems. We recognised we had to remove through traffic and this is exactly what we are doing, with the continued progress which can be seen on the Dublin ring road. The Western Parkway has been open to traffic for some years and last December saw the successful completion of the northern leg of the ring road with the opening of 11 kilometres of motorway. Construction of the Southern Cross route is beginning this year — now that legal proceedings have been resolved — and the consultancy and statutory process for the south-eastern motorway should also be completed this year so that construction can begin as a matter of urgency. Planning is also progressing on the proposed Dublin port tunnel.

Other major schemes currently under construction include the Northern Cross route extension, the Balbriggan by-pass and the Rathcoole interchange.This level of investment in roads infrastructure in the Dublin area is second to none. This motion from Fianna Fáil, calling for further investment in transport and road infrastructure, an effective management plan and for the urgent completion of the ring road, is a good description of our current policy. This Private Members' motion also raises questions relating to public transport. My colleague, the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, will address that issue when he speaks on the motion tomorrow.

Major investment has also taken place in water and sewerage schemes in the greater Dublin area, which is inclusive of Counties Kildare, Wicklow and Meath. Since 1995, payments of £68.5 million have been made to the local authorities concerned and the Government has continued its commitment to improving the water and sewerage infrastructure and to meeting the residential, economic and other development needs of the greater Dublin area with the inclusion of schemes with a final estimated cost of more than £400 million in the water and sewerage schemes capital works programme for 1997.

Arising out of the greater Dublin water supply strategic study, which was commissioned by the Department of the Environment and published in 1996, a major initiative on water conservation in the region has been started at an estimated cost of over £30 million. It is expected that, when completed, the project will cut by half the level of leakage in water mains in Dublin.

On the sewerage side, work is being advanced on the provision of secondary treatment for Dublin.This will be the largest single water or sewerage project in the history of the State. Apart from providing secondary treatment for all Dublin waste water, the project will end the dumping of sludge into Dublin Bay.

Turning to the next major issue raised in the motion, that is, unemployment, I intend to place on the record the major job creation achievements of this Government. Overall, the Labour Force Survey shows that in the year to April 1996 employment in Dublin grew by a record 26,200, or 7 per cent, on the previous year.

According to the annual series of CSO labour force surveys, average annual employment growth in the period from April 1994 to April 1996, at 19,300 per year, was four times that of the previous two years. The average annual rate of jobs growth in the Dublin region in the period from April 1994 to April 1996, at 5.2 per cent, was well ahead of the jobs growth rate nationally — 4.4 per cent — over the same period.

Dublin has been fortunate to secure a large proportion of inward investment over recent years. This region now incorporates one of the major high technology business environments in Europe. Many of the larger corporations seeking investment opportunities in Europe have confined their site selection criteria to the principal centres of population in each country. For such corporations, Dublin and the other cities will continue to represent the focal point of interest and will continue to benefit through industrial development and employment provision.

Ireland's success in attracting such flagship investments as IBM, Hewlett Packard, Intel and Motorola is a clear example of such location strategies.Dublin and the east region have been fortunate to secure many of these firms in the recent past. This success will ensure that jobs growth in Dublin and the east region will continue to be buoyant in the years ahead.

I now want to turn to the question of crime in general, and drug abuse in particular, which is one of the social evils which this Government has targeted for special attention. Early last year, proposals on new demand reduction measures to prevent drug misuse were approved. A wide range of services, from prevention and education to detoxification and rehabilitation, have been provided for drug misusers in Dublin following these decisions. A ministerial task force put in place to review further drug services published its first report on measures to reduce the demand for drugs on 10 October 1996. As a result of the task force report, 12 priority areas for special attention have been identified in the greater Dublin area and local area task forces have been established in each of these areas. Additional funding for Dublin was £1.5 million in 1995, £1.3 million in 1996 and, Members should note, £5.9 million in 1997.

The Garda authorities also reviewed their operations in regard to combating the drugs problem in Dublin and the Garda Commissioner announced a new strategy, Operation Dóchas, which came into effect on 7 October 1996. The new strategy has operated in all Dublin districts and has involved the deployment of in excess of 500 uniformed and plain clothes gardaí. While drug related activities are the main focus of this initiative, a full and comprehensive policing service is being provided in these areas. The Garda authorities have indicated that because of its unqualified success, this particular initiative in Dublin city is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Because of the particular problems in Dublin, the Garda Commissioner arranged the return to Dublin of the 160 or so gardaí who had been deployed for Border BSE duty. As a result of this, and an intensification in overall recruitment, the number of gardaí available in Dublin to combat crime has been substantially increased. Overall recruitment in 1997 will be of the order of 600, compared to only 300 per annum when Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats were in government. The Government is confident that all these measures will maintain the strength of the Garda at a level sufficient to meet the changing needs of our society.

The Private Members' motion also queried the adequacy of a range of services in the Dublin area including health, education and housing. In the time available, I can only deal briefly with our achievements in providing these services in the Dublin area.

In November 1996, the Minister for Health announced proposals for the establishment of an Eastern Health Authority which will have responsibility for the funding of all health and personal social services in Counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. A high level task force was established to oversee and manage the implementation of proposals. Under the new arrangements, all services, both voluntary and statutory, will be funded by the new authority, facilitating more integrated planning, delivery and evaluation of health and personal social services in the area. This Government believes this will enable the authority to promote a more effective, efficient and patient and consumer friendly delivery system in the region.

This Government has provided, and continues to provide, substantial capital development funding for the Dublin area, particularly in the acute hospital sector, to ensure that an efficient and effective hospital service is available throughout the city.

A number of major capital projects are currently being planned or constructed in the Dublin area at a total estimated cost of £270 million approximately. These include the new 590 bed general hospital in Tallaght which will open in 1997, at an estimated cost of £126 million. This will provide a high quality range of health services for the catchment area of 100,000 persons in the immediate area.

Significant achievements in education can also be recorded. The pupil/teacher ratio has been reduced from 23.4:1 in the 1994-5 school year to under 22:1 from next September. Every school in Dublin city and county has benefited considerably from these improvements. Furthermore, a special maximum class size of 29 applies to all schools designated as disadvantaged. In Dublin city and county there are 161 primary schools which are so designated.

More than £20 million in capital funding has been allocated to primary schools in the Dublin area since 1993. Major projects have been undertaken in Ballymun, Rathcoole, Tallaght, Dundrum, Glenageary and the Model School in Marlborough Street.

This substantial level of funding has helped to redress the damage done to primary schools as a result of the massive cuts in funding in the 1988-92 period.

A total of £25.4 million has been allocated to the Dublin city and county region for the building of six new schools and nine extensions to existing schools from the post-primary capital programme from 1994 to date, including the 1997 allocation.

Third level capital in Dublin includes an £11.5 million East End development at Trinity College Dublin, an £11 million chemical sciences building at Dublin City University, a £3 million new computer facility at UCD, a £6.5 million extension to the Dublin Institute of Technology College of Catering at Cathal Brugha Street and the completion of a new college for Dublin Institute of Technology at Aungier Street at a cost of £8.5 million. Also a £4 million extension will shortly commence for Dun Laoghaire regional technical college.I am sorry Deputy Brennan is not present to hear me announce that a £4.5 million extension will also shortly commence for the Tallaght regional technical college. More recently the Government has given the go-ahead for the acquisition of a site for the proposed new regional technical college at Blanchardstown.

Mr. Lawlor

It is very welcome.

Mr. Taylor

Three education centres have been located in the Dublin city and county region at West Dublin, Blackrock and Drumcondra.

So far as housing is concerned, the original motion called on the Government to introduce measures to tackle what it described as "the public housing shortage". The out-of-date terminology suggests the proposers have not even heard of the concept of social housing by which the needs of those unable to provide adequate housing from their own resources are met through a wide range of responses which reflect the wide range of social housing needs. The Government's record in relation to social housing in the Dublin area is second to none. If we look at needs, the number of households on the local authority waiting lists in Dublin city and county area was 7,900 in March 1993. The most recent assessment in March 1996, showed that this number had been reduced to 6,543 — a reduction of 17 per cent.

We should look also at output. Last year an additional 1,000 local authority houses were provided in the Dublin area. In 1993 the figure was 263. In 1991, believe it or not, the figure was only 167. When we take all local authority and voluntary housing programmes together we see that the needs of over 4,000 households in the Dublin area were met in 1996 compared to a miserable 2,300 in 1992 — an increase of 74 per cent.

The Government's commitment to social housing extends beyond the new housing programmes to securing improvements to the housing conditions of existing local authority tenants. This is best exemplified by the recent Government decision to comprehensively redevelop the Ballymun estate at an estimated cost of about £179 million. This project will directly improve the housing conditions of over 2,500 households and secure the overall economic and social regeneration of the area.

In regard to regeneration, perhaps the most visible sign of what the Government has achieved for Dublin is the revitalisation of many city centre areas under the urban renewal scheme. The package of tax incentives and rates relief which the current scheme provides has offered real opportunities to people to become involved in the regeneration of Dublin city. Since the current scheme commenced in 1994, the areas designated in Dublin have seen a staggering £292 million of private sector investment, with a further £180 million still planned.

Dublin has also benefited tremendously from the Temple Bar and Custom House Docks projects.Most of the major cultural development schemes devised by Temple Bar Properties in consultation with the relevant cultural organisations have been completed. Temple Bar is now firmly established as a cultural and tourist quarter.

Dublin is benefiting significantly from our development of the tourism sector with over 35 per cent growth in total tourism revenue between 1991 and 1995. In 1996, 2,360,000 overseas visitors came to Dublin and associated revenue was £440 million. The corresponding figures in 1994 were 1.8 million visitors and £330 million in revenue. By any standards, this is an outstanding performance and points to the success of the tourism promotion and development initiatives undertaken by the Government and the private sector.

Dublin is now the fastest growing urban tourism destination in Europe and is firmly established as a distinctive capital city product alongside Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and other leading cities in Europe. A recent study by the British Travel Agents' Association showed Dublin to be the second most popular European destination after Paris.

I wish to refer to the Custom House Docks area, home to the well established International Financial Services Centre where investment is estimated to have reached £450 million.

Mr. Lawlor

That was our idea.

Mr. Taylor

Who developed it? Significant progress has been achieved in recent years with the completion of further office developments and over 300 apartments. We have also seen the completion of a pub and restaurant, a new hotel for the Jury's Group, a multi-storey carpark and five retail units. In terms of employment the International Financial Services Centre provides jobs for over 3,500 people.

The new Dublin Docklands Development Authority will be established on 1 May with the objective of securing the social and economic regeneration of the docklands, an area of some 1,300 acres on the north and south sides of the Liffey. When implemented, this initiative will see what is now, in many parts, a much neglected redundant port area reclaiming its role as a vital part of the heart of our capital city.

The achievements of the Government in securing the social and economic development of the Dublin area can be described fairly as nothing short of spectacular. The Government has taken tremendous strides in developing the role of Dublin as a vibrant capital city and ensuring it can fulfil its social, economic and cultural role for Dubliners today.

Deputies opposite should realise the folly of their motion and I invite them to see the sense of this and withdraw it.

Mr. Lawlor

It is folly on the part of politicians on all sides of the House to claim credit for European funding. Everyone has made that mistake and it is ridiculous. The Minister began by referring to a number of major capital investment projects in the greater Dublin region which are most welcome. However, great frustration has been felt by the people of Dublin due to the lack of urgency in utilising funds which have been available for capital works.

The first major item referred to was the operational programme for transport with an investment of £600 million. How far is the programme behind? I suggest two or three years. The southern cross route has been tied up in a legal bind having been dragged through the courts for years. The DTI studied Dublin's traffic problems to death but now there is a further consultancy requirement from Europe on Luas. Our capital with a population of 1 million has been studied, consulted, restudied and reconsulted to death. We want to build a tunnel to the port. How long has it taken to develop that project? Management at local authority and national level should be criticised for the lack of attention, action and urgency in the greater Dublin region over many years.

The next item the Minister blew his trumpet about was £400 million for water and sewerage schemes. Dublin Corporation set about studying what it would do about this problem ten years ago. International consultants spent three or four years examining it. They came up with a solution to build on the north fringe of Dublin. Following this, the consultant's report was scrapped and studies were carried out again. Eventually, the corporation concluded that instead of building a facility on the north fringe, it would build the facility in Ringsend and put a pipe under the bay. It is now rushing, following a diktat from the Department of the Environment, to build a sewerage treatment facility. This in turn is required to meet an EU directive, but a waste water plant will not be built for years. A major project is being developed on a piecemeal basis to meet the EU directive. Some 75 per cent of the capital for that project has been available in Brussels for years. Various Ministers and city managers did not proceed with these urgent capital programmes. Even now they begrudingly provide a half-baked solution to Dublin Bay water pollution by providing secondary treatment, not tertiary treatment.

The lack of proper services has resulted in some young couples paying up to £10,000 more than they should for first time homes. A large tract of land became available on the north fringe of the city for new housing because that facility was not provided. However, in Lucan young couples pay £10,000 to £15,000 more than they should for their first home. Séan Lemass said in the 1960s: "you control the price of building land by servicing more than you need". That is not the case in Dublin at present and young couples are being crippled by the prices of their homes, courtesy of ineptitude across the political divide.

It was then discovered that half of Dublin's fresh water was being lost through leakages from archaic pipes and £30 million is being spent to rectify a problem that should have been dealt with years ago. Temple Bar and the Custom House Docks provided generous tax breaks which generated welcome development. They were mainly driven by Fianna Fáil when it was in power but were supported by the House.

What about social exclusion? The Minister and I and a number of other Deputies represent new satellite towns. The Minister has distinguished himself representing Tallaght for many years while I represent the satellite towns of Clondalkin, Lucan and Blanchardstown. None of us can be proud. Dublin Corporation housed substantial numbers of people in the county during the housing crisis of the 1960s and 1970s. It then walked away and left vast housing areas incomplete in terms of basic services. Within the great prosperity to which the Minister referred, there is substantial social exclusion. This is where attention needs to be focused, not on trotting out what has been achieved courtesy of European funding. It should have been handled more efficiently and utilised much sooner.

The social exclusion issue and what needs to be achieved must be addressed. What approach should be taken? My constituency is the only part of the country on which a study was done by the task force on urban crime to examine what had gone wrong. It recommended a catalogue of actions. Fianna Fáil was in Government at the time but did not rush into implementing them and this Government has done little, despite having more time than we had. However, these people must be brought back into the loop. The regeneration of Ballymun is a good example of this. While not being as dramatic a necessity in the new satellite towns, they are heading in that direction and if the problem is not addressed the finance required for Ballymun will be needed for these towns.

There is good reason to put the motion before the House. Other urban areas in Cork, Limerick and Galway fall into the same category and the Minister should target them also. He elaborated on investment in education, a new hospital in Tallaght etc. which are welcome and the success of job creation which has been excellent. My constituency has benefited from this but it is our well educated young population and favourable tax regime which has attracted multinationals, not a love of Ireland. Economic management is important and I compliment the past two Governments for setting the country on the road to low inflation. Good fiscal management and policies have contributed to bring this about.

As we prepare for a general election, all political parties should look at the social exclusion dimension in considering the needs of the Dublin area.

On transport, the levels projected for the year 2000 and beyond have been reached. There are long tailbacks on the motorway which runs through my constituency and every roundabout designed by engineers for the Department of the Environment has had to be redesigned and traffic lights constructed. Spending has trebled because of the lack of competent management. The Dublin area, therefore, needs much attention and further investment.

Mr. Haughey

The Minister stated that the achievements of the Government in securing the social and economic development of the Dublin area are spectacular. What is spectacular and breathtaking is the Minister claiming exclusive credit, on behalf of the Government, for a number of initiatives in the Dublin area. This is hard to take. Temple Bar Properties Limited, the International Financial Services Centre and the Custom House Docks Development Authority were Fianna Fáil initiatives, although I accept they have been advanced under various Finance Acts.

As a Dublin Deputy, city councillor and former Lord Mayor of Dublin, I have fought consistently to ensure the Dublin region, particularly the northside, receives a fair deal. It is important that moves to promote coherent economic and social development of the north Dublin region are supported.This can best be done in association with Dublin City University or the area based partnerships, both Fianna Fáil initiatives. The area based partnerships were established under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress in 1991, while I recall putting my signature as Lord Mayor of Dublin to the inauguration charter for DCU, although I do not claim credit for its establishment.

As other speakers said, Dublin has the highest concentration of deprivation with high unemployment rates in many estates. Social exclusion is the one element the Minister failed to include in his speech. The economy — the celtic tiger — may be booming but social exclusion presents a major problem in the city, particularly on the northside. There is a need to establish a north Dublin lobby to seek a fair deal for the region and to ensure its economic infrastructure is further developed and major facilities are located within it. This can be done in an organised way.

Transport issues and the so-called Luas line have been mentioned. This is but one example of the way the northside of Dublin has lost out. No one on the northside of Dublin was surprised when the Ballymun-Dublin Airport line was put on the long finger. It took the intervention of the European Commission to ensure fair play. At least, the plans for the line are now on paper and consultations are taking place. Everybody was extremely disappointed when the project was put on hold.

The drugs problem is of major concern to many communities in the Dublin area. As has been said so often, it represents a threat to the fabric of society. An entire generation of young people is at risk. This is intolerable. Everyone is affected as drug related crime continues to escalate.

The communities which have stood up to the drug barons did so initially without any help from the State or the Garda Síochána. They are to be congratulated for this. The motives of many local drugs action committees have been misrepresented in the media. They are comprised mostly of parents concerned about the escalation of the drugs problem in their localities. We have a duty, as public representatives, to support these communities and to build trust between the Garda Síochána and the local drugs action committees. If we can do this, we will have achieved something important. Operation Dóchas was a welcome, albeit belated, response. It must be continued and adequately resourced.

To ensure prevention a wide range of measures are needed, including education, detoxification and rehabilitation programmes. Social and economic disadvantage, as characterised by high levels of unemployment, poor living conditions, low educational attainment, family breakdown and a lack of recreational facilities and other supports, contribute to the problem.

I represent a constituency which is affected by the Dublin Port tunnel proposal. Reliable access to Dublin Port is necessary to facilitate continued economic growth in the city and further expansion of the port. The matter is being dealt with under the Roads Act, 1993 which deals with motorway development. An environmental impact statement has been published and a public inquiry will be held shortly before the Minister makes his decision.

Dublin City Council is considering varying the development plan to facilitate this proposal. The legitimate concerns of local residents in East Wall, Marino, Beaumont, Whitehall and Santry have not been satisfactorily addressed. Fears about the danger of subsidance damage along the route and air pollution emanating from the tunnel portals have not been allayed. The proposed Austrian tunnelling method is also the source of much anxiety. I regret that other options were not given more serious consideration by the Dublin Transportation Initiative. These include the east-west route and truckway options.

Substantial modifications must be made to the proposed A6 route. I will not support the variation process at Dublin City Council unless the northern portals are relocated further north out of residential areas. I cannot vote for any proposal which allows for a tunnel to be constructed under the heavily populated area of Marino. I will adopt this stance at any future public inquiry, or in the unlikely event that the National Roads Authority will assume responsibility for the project in an undemocratic fashion. No Deputy would like a tunnel running directly under his or her house. It is a new concept in respect of which legitimate concerns have not been satisfactorily addressed by the authorities.

It is possible to reach agreement on an access route to the port but to date we have gone about this the wrong way and have not endeavoured to have adequate consultation. We will have to see what happens in this respect in the coming weeks.

Debate adjourned.