Dessie Ellis
Question:715. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the final cost of a regeneration project in Ballymun, Dublin 11; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12177/19]
View answerTuesday, 12 March 2019
Questions (715, 716)
Dessie Ellis
Question:716. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the cost of works to date on dwellings which were new builds as part of the Ballymun regeneration project and have since required remediation works (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12178/19]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 715 and 716 together.
The Ballymun regeneration programme spanned a long number of years, with Departmental funding first arising in 1999. This substantial programme, which comprised 24 projects, is now complete. The overall programme is estimated to have cost approximately €972 million. Funding of €775.3 million was provided via my Department.
Largely completed by the end of 2013, the Ballymun programme represents the largest regeneration initiative undertaken in the State. The State's investment resulted in almost 2,000 new replacement homes being constructed for the former residents of the original flat blocks. An additional 1,350 homes were provided via private sector investment.
In addition, the programme provided state-of-the-art community facilities, such as the Axis theatre, along with neighbourhood centres to improve services. In recent years the regeneration activity has focused on improving the area’s environmental performance with various green initiatives, new parks and playing pitches. Enterprise and employment generation has focused on the main street and retail parks, with many new employment opportunities created for residents of the area.
In relation to the maintenance of dwellings, it is very important that local authority housing stock is maintained to an appropriate standard. Under the Housing Acts, such management and maintenance is, in the first instance, a matter for each individual local authority, in this case Dublin City Council. Separately, my Department has provided exchequer funding to support the remediation of pyrite-affected projects. This was in respect of 124 units at Sillogue 4 (€9.3 million), 52 units at Carton Estate (€3.2 million) and 4 units at Owensilla Terrace (€400,000).
An enduring regeneration project must extend beyond physical redevelopment alone. In order to be successful and sustainable over the long term, a regeneration project requires the rebuilding of a community and a strengthening of community bonds. Taken together, the provision of state-of-the-art community facilities, large-scale housing regeneration and new development, and support for local enterprise and employment, have enabled the Ballymun regeneration programme to be completed on a sustainable basis.