More than 1,200 flats across Dublin will receive their first-ever bathroom sinks in a €2 million initiative.
Among the units benefiting will be 345 flats at Pearse House in the south inner city which has been without bathroom sinks since it was built in 1938, according to assistant city manager Mr Brendan Kenny.
The complex is due to receive an additional €5 million worth of precinct improvements, which will include landscaping of open areas, construction of play areas, and anti-graffiti treatment.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, said yesterday he was "totally taken aback" when he learned on a visit to Pearse House in March that there were people living in units without sinks.
Resident Ms Ann Larkin said yesterday that most residents had plastic basins.
"So if the kids are brushing their teeth they're not spitting on your dishes," she said.
The Department of the Environment is providing the funding for the Dublin City Council improvements and will invite tenders for the work shortly.