Costello calls for further consultations on O'Devaney Gardens proposals

13 April 2015

by Cllr Joe Costello

The proposal to house homeless families in O’Devaney Gardens while well-intentioned is misguided.

The bona fides of the Minister for the Environment are not in question. The crisis in homelessness needs to be addressed and the present Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly, has given his absolute commitment to addressing it urgently and he is doing so. Indeed he is the first Minister to make such a commitment since Emmett Stagg, another Labour Minister, resolved the then crisis of homelessness twenty years earlier.

However, there are serious questions-marks over the use of a regeneration site, which is ready for redevelopment, in such a way at such a huge cost to the taxpayer.

The complex which once housed over 280 families, now houses just 14 families who are due to be relocated shortly. The de-tenanting process and regeneration plans were carried out over the past twenty years with massive financial investment from the state and human capital from residents, former residents and surrounding communities over a long period. The City Council is rightly concerned that abandoning that process for the sake of temporary accommodation is short-sighted.

It is imperative that the City Council, the local housing authority and the Minister are at one in bringing about a resolution to the present crisis.

The most sensible approach in relation to O’Devaney Gardens is for the City Council to defer the proposal until such time as full consultation takes place between the Minister, the Council and the local community.

Dublin City Council has already drawn up a comprehensive regeneration programme for O’Devaney Gardens, which is a prime location beside the Phoenix Park. The Minister has a budget of €3.8 billion for social housing. The solution to the present problem may well be found in fast-tracking that regeneration programme.

I intend to meet Minister Kelly this week to discuss the issues and to seek an early solution.