asked the Minister for the Environment if he will introduce a White Paper on urban renewal; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - White Paper on Urban Renewal.
55.
I do not propose to issue a White Paper on urban renewal at present. Government policy and Government action in this area are well known and, I believe, well accepted. The Government will continue Fianna Fáil's traditional commitment to urban renewal and will do everything possible to resolve problems of inner city decay, dereliction and population decline. The effectiveness of the financial incentives under the Urban Renewal and the Finance Acts, 1986, is being monitored and the Government are also considering the extension of the designated area scheme already in operation for Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, to other provincial centres. Special attention is being devoted to the redevelopment of the Custom House Docks site. I hope to see substantial progress on this project in the months ahead. In addition, approval has been given by the Government to a proposal of the National Building Agency to undertake redevelopment works bringing together local authority, private and voluntary interests, in a number of provincial centres, beginning with the Wexford pilot scheme.
That is the most disastrous reply I have heard for a considerable time. Does the Minister of State have special responsibility for urban renewal or has anyone in his Department specific responsibility for it?
The Minister of State has such responsibility.
It is a pity that he is not in the House. May I ask the Minister — fresh from his Ógra Fianna Fáil Dublin Conference which he left with a flea in his ear — if, given the complaints which have been made to him from his own party and from people of standing in Dublin, and since he is not prepared to introduce a White Paper, he would accede to a request from the House for an all-party committee to consider the question of urban renewal in major areas?
The question of an all-party committee does not arise. The basis for an ongoing programme of urban renewal is already well placed and we are continuing to develop policies in that regard. It is a little tiresome to listen to the Deputy referring to the ongoing commitment of the Government. The Custom House Docks site development, to which I referred to in my reply, will not happen in the distant future. It is a real live issue. The planning scheme will be ready in May and, following consideration of the statutory arrangements involved, we can expect to see development work on the site in the early autumn. That is a very positive move in the development and re-development of the inner city. We have also taken a decision, announced on Sunday, to allow the National Building Agency to get involved in the development of schemes for urban renewal in other centres throughout the country. These are positive steps and we are encouraging local authorities — whose primary responsibility it is — to include urban renewal in their development programmes. We are more than adequately dealing with the matter and it will be of primary importance to me and to the Minister of State — who is now in the House — to see that these matters are brought to a happy conclusion.
I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Minister said Fianna Fáil had a policy in regard to urban renewal and I should like him to circulate it because there does not seem to be any planned policy for urban renewal on a national basis. Could the Minister say whether the policy includes plans for the removal of derelect sites, preservation of significant buildings and landmarks, employment in the inner cities, planning on a national basis for housing in the inner city, main roads——
The Deputy should not proceed like that.
Does it include plans for canals and waterways? Where is this well known plan?
If the Deputy wishes to gain possession of a Fianna Fáil document, he only has to ask and it will be forwarded to him. The Deputy can be assured that the few examples I outlined are the first decent steps forward in so far as urban renewal is concerned. He is not giving credit to the efforts made by the Department, by me and the Minister of State in regard to development of the docks site. Is the Deputy aware of what is going on in that regard?
Will the Minister say how much has been cut from the budget to facilitate work on that site?
It is important for the Deputy to know that quite a number of substantial interests will be involved in the development of the docks site. I am satisfied that there will be no delay. Development work will start this year with considerable employment potential——
What will the Minister use for money?
The Deputy will be pleased to note that there will be no shortage of money.
Will the Minister circulate these well known plans of the Government?
I will be happy to send the Deputy a copy of the Fianna Fáil document.