The City Council is aware of what occurred in O’Devaney Gardens last evening.  We have been in consultation with the Gardaí on the matter and there is ongoing co-operation between the Gardaí and Dublin City Council with regard to Estate Management issues. 

Originally there were 280 occupied units in O’Devaney Gardens and following the decision to regenerate the area we have carried out a programme of de tenanting and only 179 units are now occupied.  It is intended to demolish four of the vacant blocks in September with the agreement of the City Council.  We will continue with our de-tenanting programme for those who wish to avail of it and we believe that with the co-operation and agreement of the local community we can prioritise the process and achieve a substantial reduction in that number in the next twelve months. 

The City Council now has a new Multidisciplinary Unit in place, which is preparing plans in relation to the regeneration of O’Devaney Gardens. 

Given the present economic climate we are looking at how the entire site can be regenerated on an incremental basis.  We believe that we will be in a position to outline our plans within three months.  This team will in the meantime be consulting with the local community through the Regeneration Board for O’Devaney Gardens and with the local Councillors. 

In the meantime new additional CCTV cameras are being purchased to augment what is already in place and we will continue to co-operate fully with the Gardaí in relation to Estate Management. 

Ends.