Question 15. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach when the Cork city task force will be established. [24952/26]

Question:16. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cork city task force will be established. [24953/26]

Question:17. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [24954/26]

Question:18. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [24955/26]

Question:19. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [49325/26]

Question:20. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [49337/26]

Question:21. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach when the Cork city task force will be established. [50817/26]

Question:22. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cork city task force will be established. [50895/26]

Question:23. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [50896/26]

Question:24. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [51116/26]

Question:25. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [51126/26]

Question:26. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [51499/26]

Question:27. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [51503/26]

Question:28. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [51513/26]

Question:29. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [53273/26]

Question:30. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [53689/26]

The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 30, inclusive, together.

This will be a long answer because there is one task group and one futures group. In May 2024, the Government appointed a task force to take a holistic view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, north and south, making it a more thriving, attractive, and safe cityscape, and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit.

Following the task force's report and recommendations, as agreed by Government, the Department of the Taoiseach convened an interdepartmental group to develop the recommendations.

The group produced a report with a ten-year roadmap for delivery and comprehensive implementation plan. Central to this will be: a special purpose vehicle to drive delivery and to support the specific capital developments relevant to the project. Dublin City Council is progressing the establishment of this new legal entity, in line with the timelines laid out in the roadmap; a ten-year integrated area strategy for Dublin city centre to optimise funding and investment and tackle vacancy and dereliction; and accelerated delivery of landmark capital projects in the city centre through additional funding in the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, under the national development plan, NDP, review; and redevelopment of the GPO complex as an ambitious and historic flagship project, which will be managed by the OPW.

The roadmap for delivery of the Dublin city task force also creates an enabling environment designed to build confidence with business, landowners and investors to get involved in achieving a new vision for Dublin city centre and to drive private sector investment.

An oversight board, comprising all of the relevant Departments and agencies, has been established to oversee and provide strategic direction for delivery of the roadmap. It is chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach. The board has been meeting regularly since its establishment in July.

The Government recently agreed to the assignment of Mr. Robert Watt as CEO-designate of the SPV being established by Dublin City Council to drive implementation of the roadmap. The newly appointed interim advisory board to the SPV met on 15 June. In line with the roadmap, Dublin City Council has recruited staff for an interim programme management unit, which will drive delivery while work is advancing to set up the SPV.

The Government agreed the process to redevelop Dublin's iconic General Post Office complex last month. Its ownership will transfer to the Office of Public Works from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. The OPW will prepare design proposals, which will be subject to Government approval. Before that happens, a wide-ranging public consultation process will begin later this year to seek the views of all stakeholders.

The Department of the Taoiseach will chair a steering group which will guide and oversee the non-statutory public consultation and engagement process.

Concurrently, as part of the consultation and engagement process, a temporary meanwhile use proposal will also be developed. Changes to the living city initiative announced as part of budget 2026 will also support regeneration and efforts to tackle vacancy and dereliction in cities: Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford, and from 8 April 2026, also in the following towns: Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny, and Sligo....

...Deputy Tom Brabazon: I welcome what the Taoiseach said in respect of the Dublin city task force. Us Dubs agree that the city centre certainly requires a lot of TLC. Speaking with many constituents in Dublin Bay North, they have fond memories of travelling into town to go shopping in the Talbot Street area. However, over recent years, they have begun to feel that the area is becoming unwelcoming due to litter, vagrancy, drug-taking and an overall menacing feel to the area. This has a knock-on effect on local businesses and ratepayers where there is reduced footfall. That also reduces passive surveillance in the area. As a northsider, I am very proud of our city, its culture and its history. However, I cannot but agree with the sentiments expressed by many of my constituents. Areas in the north side of the city have seen increased Garda patrols but we need to see much more. We need to see areas like Talbot Street cleaned of litter, antisocial behaviour to be rooted out, and open drug-taking dealt with.

Deputy Mark Ward: I thank the Taoiseach for his update on the future of the GPO. As he knows, the GPO is a historic building in the centre of our capital city. It is where our Republic was declared. It was the central location of the Easter Rising. I know the Cabinet committee met to discuss the future plans for this historic building. I welcome that there will be a public consultation on the future use of the GPO but I want to know what the Government will do to make sure that this consultation process is accessible to everybody. Will the Government consider Moore Street and the potential historical quarter that surrounds the GPO and Moore Street as part of that future consultation about the GPO? As the Taoiseach knows, our republican history is important and it simply cannot be paved over.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore: In 2024, 1,000 incidents of antisocial behaviour were recorded on Dublin Bus. That was nearly double the figure recorded just a few years earlier. Unfortunately, this is not just limited to Dublin. We are also seeing instances of this in my constituency, Wicklow, on Go-Ahead services. I have constituents who are unable to take some routes because of the antisocial behaviour that is happening, particularly on the top level of some of these buses. There is drug-taking, harassment and fighting. We do not want a situation where people are afraid or uncomfortable to take public transport. I know the Taoiseach plans a transport security force. What is the progress update on that? When will it be rolled out? Will it be for areas outside Dublin such as Wicklow?
Deputy Peadar Tóibín
 
Lonely Planet said recently that-----

The Taoiseach: Who?

Deputy Peadar Tóibín: Lonely Planet. It did a review of Dublin and stated, "Once Dublin’s grand boulevard, O'Connell St has struggled with decline". It stated that vacant buildings, derelict upper floors and long-stalled redevelopments leave this part looking neglected while retail has shifted elsewhere and been replaced by fast food shops that dilute its character. Moore Street, right beside it, was promised to be redeveloped by 2016, and here we are ten years later. It is a site of drinking, drug-taking, urination and defecation. It is part of the national monuments battlefield sites. Is there a move by the Government to buy Moore Street from Hammerson in a similar fashion to how it bought the Carlton site on O'Connell Street? That is my first question.

My second question is about Cork. Cork is now one of the most congested cities in the world. A global study by TomTom indicated that it is the 38th most congested city globally, behind cities such as London, Toronto and Rome. The task force indicated that the Cork Luas system would be built. That Luas system is in planning and that planning is taking a long while. Can the Taoiseach give an update on when exactly the Cork Luas system will be built so that people can actually get around the city of Cork in a timely fashion?

Deputy Shane Moynihan: I thank the Taoiseach for his update, especially with regard to the Dublin city task force. This week, the Garda Commissioner has been in front of two Oireachtas committees, speaking about the issue of e-scooters, and has given his thoughts about the enforcement side of things.

I was pleased to hear this morning that the Garda Commissioner is also of the view that e-scooters are propagating drug supply lines in my constituency and are devastating communities across the country. Whatever course of action the Government takes, and I have views on either a total ban or a registration and licensing system, it is clear to me that gardaí will need training in the enforcement and tactical interventions that they will need to undertake to enforce whatever ban or system being put in place, as in taking someone from a scooter or pursuing that scooter.

The Garda Commissioner also asked us to support any sort of legislative requirements required to back An Garda Síochána when it needs to make those tactical interventions. If we are to make reports like the Dublin city task force's successful, encouraging Dublin to be a safer place, dealing with e-scooters being used unsafely and illegally has to be at the heart of that. I ask the Taoiseach to support any legislative requirements to back gardaí in doing their job.

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú: I have often spoken about the need for multi-agency action to be taken in relation to dealing with the issues of security, safety, antisocial behaviour and criminal activity in real terms, whether in Dublin, Dundalk or anywhere else. I agree with what Deputy Moynihan said. We were all taken by Grace Lynch's parents in relation to the issue scramblers. We heard from the Garda Commissioner about the fact An Garda Síochána would need a framework to operate in, even if it had the training, the drones and all the other pieces. A particular issue needs to be dealt with. Grace's mother, Siobhán, spoke about the fact threats had been made to her on TikTok. She spoke about the need for a greater reaction from An Garda Síochána. It is a particular issue that would need to be brought up with the social media companies.

Deputy Barry Heneghan: I refer to the hundreds of vacant spaces over shops in Dublin, the capital city in which I grew up. I welcome the above-the-shop grant but could we re-examine it in terms of microcompanies or SMEs availing of that grant? It can be difficult for them to avail of the above-the-shop grant. The jump between what can be given for the first, the second and the third floors is not acceptable. If we are trying to bring people into the city for passive surveillance and into a liveable city, we need to examine making it easier for people to convert vacant above-the-shop spaces, especially if they are going to do three floors at the same time. It makes more sense. The builder is already there. It is something that should be re-examined.

The Taoiseach: Deputy Séamus McGrath raised the issue of the need for a strategic integration transport office in Cork. There are multi-billion euro projects on the go at the moment. The biggest one is the docklands. On 23 June, the Government approved a preliminary business case for the Cork city docklands enabling an infrastructure investment programme. That was reviewed by the major projects advisory group in KPMG, as well as the approving authority, which is the Department of housing. Construction cost estimates, when URDF funding was originally approved in 2021, was about €595 million. The programme now has a total estimated cost of €1 billion plus. It is a combination of tender price inflation and development of the design of some individual subprojects, that is, when you get down to designing these projects. That is the eastern gateway bridge project, in particular. An increased contingency allowance has also been included.

We need strategic co-ordination. I would be slightly worried if we set up a new office to run it all. I do not think that is what Deputy McGrath is proposing. We could be there for another couple of years. To be fair, there has been a fair degree of co-ordination in Cork city in the docklands. The LDA and Cork City Council are working well together in terms of housing and residential developments in the city and in the docklands, in particular.

I take Deputy McGrath's point about Cork Airport. There is a need to factor Cork Airport more into some of the proposals in terms of access and egress. There are a lot of queues near the Kinsale roundabout. Different voluntary groups had been formed. We have been asking. The NTA, in particular, should have a presence in Cork with TII and others. Working from the same office would make a lot of sense and a lot of complementarity would be developed in terms of the relationship between BusConnects and Cork Luas and so on.

Deputy Tóibín raised issues in terms of Cork. I would point out that the Cork Luas project is not in planning. It has been in public consultation. There are a lot of issues around that. This is communicating with the public. Sports clubs have articulated real concerns about the proposed route. We have to get the route right first and we have to get it agreed. That public consultation has ended but issues have arisen arising from that consultation. It will be some time before it gets into planning but we are committed to it because it is an important project.

In terms of the congestion of the city, big improvements have been made, in particular in the city centre. A lot of traffic bypasses it. Historically, because of the link road system, we were far ahead of other cities. We have to do a northern area distributor road, a northern ring road and so on. If BusConnects and Cork Luas happen, that will be radical and impactful in terms of the congestion question.

Deputy Brabazon raised the Dublin city task force. He articulated what a lot of people are saying to me that some time ago, people looked forward to shop in the city centre. He said there was a menacing feel about the place. I accept we have to deal with antisocial behaviour on the streets. Open drug taking should not be accepted. It should not be something that is normalised. We need to clean up areas within the city centre. Security and a visible police presence is vital to that.

The transformation of O'Connell Street is key to all of this. The purchase of the Hammerson site will unlock a lot, not just for the metro but the wider possibilities in terms of the redevelopment of O'Connell Street, which is a fantastic boulevard. As Deputy Tóibín said, Lonely Planet described it as such. It has never reached its potential as a major street. Because of the task force, we are on the cusp of doing something significant now, particularly in terms of the GPO.

Deputy Mark Ward raised the issue of the GPO. The Government was always going to do a public consultation. I think that public consultation will be accessible to everyone. It is important because the GPO site is a huge site. It is not just the front building and so on. We need to concentrate on that and get it right. We are also working on Moore Street. A lot of work is under way by the OPW, particularly as it is designated under the National Monuments Act.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín: Will the Government buy Moore Street-----

The Taoiseach: Deputy Whitmore has now left the Chamber. I understand she probably has another committee to go to. I take her point on antisocial behaviour on buses, particularly Dublin Bus. That is a serious issue. We do not want situations where people are afraid to go on a bus, or are discouraged from doing so, because of antisocial behaviour. I will talk to the Minister for Transport in respect of where we are in terms of security on our buses and the proposals for that.

Deputy Tóibín raised Lonely Planet and O'Connell Street. I think I have dealt with that. I also mentioned the Moore Street situation. We do not talk about any potential purchases and so on in advance, even if we were considering it, because these are commercially sensitive issues. TII took a big decision in terms of land required for the metro but additional land that will facilitate the construction of the metro and that will ultimately be part of a wider refurbishment and rejuvenation of O'Connell Street.

I take Deputy Shane Moynihan's point about e-scooters. The Deputy stated that he has an open mind regarding between regulation and an outright ban. There is a real issue in respect of how the use of these scooters has evolved and how there was no regulatory framework in place when they arrived some years ago. People did not anticipate the uses that they are now being put to by drug gangs and for other criminal activity. The latter is proving very problematic for An Garda Síochána, as the Garda Commissioner has told the Deputy. There will be legislation to support An Garda Síochána. I do not like gardaí being investigated on the basis of their pursuing someone in the line of duty. There can be issues arising from that, but they should not suffer in their civilian lives subsequently. Do not get me wrong, there are issues around pursuit. It is not the only answer, particularly as it creates its own dangers down the line. Pursuit can lead to death and injury, so we have to be careful of the health and safety of gardaí as well as that of the general public when pursuit operations happen. I will convene a meeting with relevant Ministers on this next week in order to focus on the issue the Deputy has raised.

I fully support what Deputy Ó Murchú said about inter-agency action. Such action is absolutely essential. I also met Siobhán and Martin Lynch. I was appalled by what they have had to endure online. They already suffered the most traumatic of shocks in their lives when they lost their daughter, but then to have very callous people post online about them in the way they have done is beyond human comprehension. What is wrong with people? What is wrong with our society that individuals can do that to a family that has suffered and endured so much? This is something we need to reflect on as a society more generally.

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú: Also the social media companies.

The Taoiseach: The social media companies as well, absolutely.

Deputy Heneghan referred to the living city initiative. This initiative, in the context of the changes that have been made to it, is a game-changer. The old living city initiative seemed to be something that civil servants in a certain Department created to make sure that it would not have any impact. They succeeded, because it did not have an impact. In the most recent budget, we dramatically enhanced what is available to people living in city centres. We have extended the initiative to Drogheda, Athlone and elsewhere. I am told there will be significant progress arising out of what we did in the budget last year. I pushed very hard for it. I do not understand the conservatism that has existed in officialdom for far too long on this matter. We need to provide every incentive we can in order to encourage people to live in our cities and towns.

An Ceann Comhairle: That was the final Taoiseach’s questions until we come back in September. I thank the Taoiseach for his co-operation with all the Members. I wish him a very successful recess, particularly as he will be very busy with EU Presidency business and his normal business.