Local Authorities
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Frankie Feighan (FG), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this very important matter. As he knows, in May 2024 the Government appointed the Dublin city task force, chaired by David McRedmond, to take a holistic view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, north and south. The aim is to make Dublin city centre a more thriving, attractive and safe cityscape and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit.
The Dublin city task force report published in October 2024 made a series of recommendations, known as the ten big moves, to improve the city centre’s public realm, safety and experience. A roadmap for delivery of the task force report was published by Government in June 2025, following the work of an interdepartmental group, setting out a clear implementation plan. Central to delivery will be: a special purpose vehicle to drive delivery and support the specific capital developments relevant to the project, and Dublin City Council is progressing the establishment of this new legal entity; a ten-year integrated area strategy for Dublin city centre to optimise funding and investment and tackle vacancy and dereliction; accelerated delivery of landmark capital projects in the city centre through additional funding in the URDF under the NDP review; and redevelopment of the GPO complex as an ambitious and historic flagship project.
An oversight board comprised of all the relevant Departments and agencies and chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach meets regularly to oversee and provide strategic direction for delivery of the task force report through the roadmap for delivery. Ultimately, responsibility for establishment of the special purpose vehicle lies with Dublin City Council and it will need to adhere to the relevant legislative requirements. The Government recently agreed the assignment of Mr. Robert Watt as CEO-designate, as the Senator said, of the body that will become the special purpose vehicle.
The newly appointed interim advisory board to the SPV met on 15 June and 16 representatives have been appointed to the advisory board, including chairperson, David McRedmond, who previously acted as the independent chair and member of the Dublin city task force. Dublin City Council has recruited staff for an interim programme management unit, which will drive delivery while the SPV is being set up.
The Department will work with all relevant parties through the oversight board to oversee delivery of the roadmap for the Dublin city task force report. For this to be successful, there needs to be a cross-departmental approach. 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, OPW, 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 gather the views of all stakeholders. As part of the process, a temporary meanwhile use proposal will be developed.
Implementation of the Dublin city task force report recommendations is being underpinned by national development plan, NDP, investment funding. The towns and cities regeneration investment fund is supporting a number of projects within the core area. Changes to the living city initiative, announced as part of budget 2026, will also support regeneration and efforts to tackle vacancy and dereliction. The roadmap creates an enabling environment designed to build confidence with business, landholders and investors to get involved in achieving a new vision for Dublin city centre and to drive private sector investment. There will be regular reports to Government on developments in delivery for the roadmap for the Dublin city task force report.
I was at the launch of the design proposals for the GPO. It is very significant. It is not just a building. It is actually a huge complex that is being put to many uses. I look forward to the process with all stakeholders and their views will be taken into consideration.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02