“Delay is fatal” to the Dublin taskforce’s recommendations to revitalise the capital city, An Post chief executive David McRedmond has said, calling on the Government to set €1 billion aside in Budget 2026 to deliver the plan.
Mr McRedmond, who chaired the taskforce from its inception in May 2024 to the delivery of its report last October, criticised the slow pace of progress on the action plan and questioned whether Dublin City Council and elements within the Government were committed to the action plan.
Ministers approved the body’s recommendations in late June, some eight months after the finalisation of the report.
The roadmap entails the creation of a special-purpose vehicle within Dublin City Council with an independent board and chair to spearhead the plan, which involves compulsory purchases of derelict and vacant sites in the city centre.
READ MORE
Mr McRedmond, who was speaking at an event hosted by the Institute of Advertising Practitioners Ireland (Iapi) in the Jameson Distillery in Dublin on Tuesday, said the independent board was still not in place.
“Why isn’t that in place now? I mean, it needs to get in place right now.” He said “delay is fatal” to the taskforce’s plans.
Mr McRedmond said he is “quite a fan” of Taoiseach Micheál Martin. “I think he wants to get it done. I am really not sure about how far the Civil Service wants to take it forward,” he said.
“Certainly, some of [the Taoiseach’s] department do, and they’re very good. But where is the Department of Housing, the council? Where are they coming together to make sure that this plan happens?”
Responding to a question from the audience, Mr McRedmond also said the €1 billion required to progress the action plan should be set aside in the upcoming budget. He said “an extra €200 million or €300 million” should be allocated to fund gardaí and health services related to the taskforce’s plans.
The funding requirements are “not large, in terms of the overall budget for capital investment”, he said.
Mr McRedmond said: “Some of that, indeed, is working capital to do compulsory purchases of derelict sites. Then, once a site is purchased, the council will sell it to a developer, and that money can be reused. So I think it’s a good use of money.”
Separately, the An Post chief executive said his relationship with Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan was “good” after a controversy erupted in the summer over media reports that Cabinet was briefed on an allegedly bleak financial situation at the postal service.
The Fine Gael TD in July denied that he was the source of a leak, which Mr McRedmond said at the time led to An Post’s finances being “seriously misrepresented” in parts of the media.
On Tuesday, Mr McRedmond said he was looking forward to engaging with the minister over the coming months.
“I think by and large, politicians are pretty supportive of An Post,” he said. “When that unfortunate event happened in the summer, [the minister] came out very strongly, and I appreciate that.”
