A RESCUE and regeneration initiative for Limerick’s troubled Moyross area was approved by the Cabinet yesterday.
The package put together by former Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald proposes a range of community improvement and anti-crime programmes to improve social conditions in the district and other parts of Limerick City.
Defence Minister and Limerick TD Willie O’Dea said the results would be seen on the streets of Moyross “within months”.
“This package will be a major benefit to the people of Limerick. The final cost has still to be determined by the Finance Department and though it will be expensive in the short term, the long-term benefits will be very worthwhile and cost effective,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald was appointed to probe crime and social exclusion problems in Moyross last October.
The plan would see an intensive policing initiative launched in the area with garda resources pinpointed in known trouble spots.
The initiative calls for targeting of criminals who have amassed assets from illegal activities by implementing the force of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Troubled estates are promised a high-visibility garda presence “to restore confidence and stability”.
The report also calls for a “policing structure that is exclusively dedicated to the policing of these areas with a minimum of 100 additional gardaí headed by a superintendent.”
Special teams of outreach workers are to target social and family problems.
A key aspect of the move to improve living conditions will see infrastructure changes to make the layout of Moyross more “user-friendly”.
Poor housing stock will be improved and a drug treatment programme launched, according to the report.
Its finding will now be coordinated by the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion.
Irish Examiner
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