Docklands development `to create 40,000 jobs'

The master plan for Dublin's docklands will reduce unemployment in the area by up to 30 per cent - and see 25,000 more people living there, it has been claimed.

A local employment clause and provisions for extra social housing have been included in the plan for the development of the docklands, which was launched yesterday.

The plan covers the next 15 years when the 1,300 acre area is radically changed under the management of the Dublin Docks Development Authority (DDDA).

The plan envisages between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs being created over the duration of the plan. A draft plan which was produced several months ago said 10 per cent of all housing built in the area had to be reserved for social housing, but the new plan increases this to 20 per cent.

The first building in the area is due to begin this Monday on a 12-acre extension of the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC). This and other developments undertaken will be serviced by a new Dublin area bus system and according to the DDDA, LUAS will also travel into the area at some stage in the future.

This result of the development, according to the DDDA, will be to reduce the "totally unacceptable" unemployment level in the area by about 30 per cent and see 25,000 more people living in the area.

According to Mr Lar Bradshaw, DDDA chairman, discussions with Dublin Port on the purchase of the "campshires" lining the docks are "advanced" and when they come into the ownership of the DDDA will be turned into "waterside boulevards".

Another area due for major development under the plan are the locations around "Stack A" in the IFSC and a proposal from a private interest is currently being assessed by the Department of Finance.

Other projects announced to date include a new public park at the confluence of the Royal Canal and the River Liffey and the development of an Eco park on the Poolbeg peninsula.

The sections of the plan dealing with local employment establish a new charter which will commence immediately on a pilot basis on the first series of developments, including the IFSC extension.

Of the jobs promised aproximately 15,000 of them will be in the area of international services and another 8,000 in financial services.