North inner city regeneration
Deputy Gary Gannon raised concerns about a chairperson linked to the north inner city programme and the wider problem of dereliction and antisocial behaviour. The Taoiseach said he only recently became aware of the allegation, would not comment further, and noted the derelict sites regime and related law.
The Taoiseach's office oversees the north inner city programme. As such, I hope he will agree that dereliction has long contributed to the decline of the north-east inner city, which in turn creates the conditions for antisocial behaviour and crime. The north inner city programme was established to address dereliction as a root cause of antisocial behaviour and is dedicated to the regeneration of the north inner city area. Therefore, I find it bizarre that a chairperson appointed by Fine Gael - by this Government and the previous Government of which Deputy Varadkar was Taoiseach - to oversee this programme was, in fact, the owner of a derelict property in Dublin 1.
Does the Taoiseach agree that the appointment of that person to the position of chair to oversee this task force was appropriate given the fact that he oversaw a property that was in dereliction in Dublin 1? When did the Taoiseach become aware that this person was the owner of a derelict site? Was he aware at the time of the appointment?
Comment on this
I only became aware of that matter in the last couple of days whenever the story appeared online. I do not know if it is fully accurate. I would not necessarily assume that it is and I do not want to comment on it further. I do not know Michael Stone but I met him once or twice in the context of his chairmanship of the north-east city project. I must say that the vast majority of people I met, especially in the north-east inner city, felt that he was very dedicated to the work he did and that he did very good job.
We have a system of taxation on derelict sites. There is a Derelict Sites Act and derelict sites levy. I do not know if the city council imposed that tax or if it declared it to be a derelict site at all. These are things to which I just do not know the answers. One thing I would say, however, is that we need to do much better in Ireland and in this city when it comes to meantime use. There are many plots of land around the city that are being brought together and waiting to be built on and developed, and that will happen. We should be more open to meantime use and using these as cultural spaces, community spaces or for whatever purpose, at least until development happens.