The day before the general election the Taoiseach distributed a circular throughout the relevant parts of my constituency outlining his and the Government's commitment to the establishment of a major development on the lands at St. Brendan's, Grangegorman. Approximately 70 acres of prime land in the heart of the city was to become the campus for the Dublin Institute of Technology and a smaller portion of land was to be allocated for health board purposes. This commitment was given with the intention of persuading the voters of the Dublin Central constituency to support the Government and vote for the Taoiseach.
In his circular the Taoiseach indicated that the first footprint on the proposed new campus would be in place before the end of 2002. To date, while there have been footprints from trespassers and others, there has been no activity by the Government. Two months ago the Taoiseach organised a launch to indicate his intention to deliver on the commitment. Officials from the health board and the President of the Dublin Institute of Technology jointly presided and a great plan was presented. Since then nothing has happened. No funding has been made available and there appears to have been no planning. Legislation was to have been introduced to enable the envisaged development to proceed but this has not happened.
Everybody is at a loss to know the Government's intention. The Dublin Institute of Technology has been involved in a ten year old campaign to secure a consolidated campus for its faculties. There are three on the north side, at Bolton Street, Cathal Brugha Street and the College of Marketing and Design at Mountjoy Square and three on the south side, at Kevin Street, the College of Music at Chatham Street and the College of Commerce at Aungier Street. These six faculties, based on ten acres of land throughout the city, require consolidation in a single campus. The proposed development at Grangegorman would, therefore, be very welcome.
In the Grangegorman area there are also approximately 30 acres of recreational grounds which the college authorities and health board would make available to students and the local community. This is another commitment which was made and which the local community is waiting to be delivered.
The multidenominational school, Educate Together, has been going from Billy to Jack over the last number of years and it is now accommodated in Henrietta Street. St. Joseph's School for the Blind on the Navan Road was expecting to get a couple of acres as a permanent base for its activities. Dublin City Council had an interest in the development. It was looking for a portion of land for a senior citizens' development. We are talking about 70 acres of land. Half of the land is proposed to be developed by Dublin Institute of Technology, another few acres by the health board and the playing fields and some acreage for Dublin City Council.
We have not heard a word since then. No money was made available in the recent Estimates and nothing appeared in the budget. We do not know what the Government's intention is and whether promises made in the heat of the election are going to be delivered. No hard commitments have been made in terms of funding or a schedule of works. When will Exchequer funding be allocated for the development, when will the development commence and will all the types of development I have outlined be catered for?
