The Government remains fully committed to the regeneration of disadvantaged social housing estates in cities and towns, including St. Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens, Dominick Street and Dolphin's House, all of which were previously included in Dublin City Council's PPP programme.
The first phase of the Limerick Regeneration project, which includes the areas of Moyross, Southill, St. Mary's Park and Ballinacurra/Weston was approved by Government in June 2010. A capital allocation of €124.6 million is being made available by my Department to support the national regeneration programme this year. In the case of the of the Dublin projects, Dublin City Council is now required to prepare a detailed regeneration masterplan for each of the four estates that gives consideration to social and economic regeneration as well as physical improvement. In terms of the estimated costs of the masterplanning process and implementation of the relevant regeneration projects, the position is as follows.
In 2010, my Department approved funding of €5.8 million for the social housing element of the first phase of the St. Michael's Estate regeneration project. This is currently under construction. Further phases will be considered in the context of the evolving needs of the community and a holistic approach to the social, economic and physical regeneration required. In addition, the Council continues to advance the demolition programme to facilitate future construction on the rest of the site.
Proposals for the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens recently received planning permission. A planning decision is awaited in relation to proposals for Dominick Street. The next step in this process is to prepare detailed masterplans, building on the work already done under the PPP process, and which will address the social, economic, and physical regeneration needs of the communities there. At this stage in the process, it is not possible to estimate the cost of delivering on the masterplans. The City Council continues to receive funding for the relocation of households out of these areas to facilitate future construction and the demolition of vacant buildings.
The City Council is undertaking a thorough survey of the Dolphin House complex which will be used to inform a programme of remedial improvements there in the short term. It will also be necessary to develop a comprehensive masterplan for the estate in consultation with the community over the coming months. An estimate of the costs involved will also be required once details of the remedial works and the masterplan have been agreed.
Phase 1 of the Limerick Regeneration Programme, which includes a range of infrastructure, housing, and community projects, is estimated to cost some €337 million. The Limerick Regeneration Agencies, with their partners Limerick City Council, are currently engaged in progressing individual projects under the programme. The first housing project, costing an estimated €5.5 million, recently commenced construction at Cliona Park, Moyross.