At least €13 million is needed to carry out essential structural repairs to the Iveagh Markets in Dublin.

Labour is urging Dublin City Council develop the site and bring it back into use as a fully functional market in line with the history of the area.

However, Cllr Rebecca Moynihan, also said the council should not have to pay the full bill.

She said: "The current lease owner of this site has wilfully and shamefully neglected this site. He should be the one to foot the bill to deal with the structural damages.

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"The current lease owner of the site has had over twenty years to develop this historic site, yet there has been little to no development on the land and no amount of PR spin can change this fact.

"The Iveagh Markets have fallen into a serious state of dereliction. It is time for the City Council to step in and develop this site and bring it back into use as a fully functional market in line with the history of the area.

"There's a real need for market space over that area. Taking back and developing the Iveagh Markets will be a complete game changer for the Francis Street and Liberties area.

|The current state of the market is a massive blot on the history of this iconic building and the Council should take back control as soon as possible."