Dublin taskforce “meaningless” without budget funding says Gannon

In May, Taoiseach Simon Harris announced he was creating a Dublin City Centre taskforce to much fanfare.

The plan has gone unmentioned since it made a splash in May, and now local Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has called on the government to put their money where their mouth is.

He said the taskforce would be “meaningless” unless it was funded in next week’s Budget.

Gannon said “after years of dithering, the government finally established a special taskforce for the inner city when Simon Harris became Taoiseach. This is something I had repeatedly called for to reverse the shameful decline of the city centre and make it a safer place to live, work and visit.”

“For decades, Dublin has suffered due to a lack of leadership and vision. I have long argued that a multi-agency response, led by the Department of the Taoiseach, is required to restore our capital to its former glory.”

“This means tackling creeping dereliction, heavily littered streets, poor lighting and having a targeted policing response in place that is not reliant on garda overtime.”

“The taskforce’s report has now been completed and has been sitting on the Taoiseach’s desk, with no plans to bring it before Cabinet for at least another two weeks,” he said.

“Frustratingly, in the Dáil yesterday, the Tánaiste refused to say if ringfenced funding would be allocated in next week’s Budget to implement the report’s recommendations.”

“Without this commitment, the report will be meaningless and it will undermine the work put in by members of the taskforce and its independent chairperson.”

“With growing speculation that a general election will be announced in the coming weeks, it is looking increasingly likely that the needs of Dublin city centre will quickly fall off the Government’s agenda,” he remarked.