Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Under the current national planning framework, the Government has committed to achieving a 50-50 split in population growth between the eastern and midlands region and the other two regions, namely the northern and western region and the southern region. However, based on the latest population statistics from the CSO, 55% of population growth has taken place in the eastern and midlands region. Much of that growth has been overly concentrated in the greater Dublin area. Consequently, population growth has been much lower in the northern and western region. These population trends are leading to increasingly greater regional imbalances.

So many of my contributions to Leaders' Questions over the past four years have focused on the growing regional imbalances during the lifetime of successive Governments. I have quoted pretty shocking disparities in GDP, household income and healthcare, but today I will concentrate on two issues further contributing to a widening of those regional gaps. I refer to housing completions and the gap in infrastructural spending. Failures in many sectors I have mentioned before and the ones I am mentioning today contribute to the fact the Government is failing to meet its commitment to a 50-50 split in population growth between the regions.

In regard to spending on major infrastructural projects, the EU Commission regional competitiveness index ranks the northern and western region's infrastructure at 218th out of 243 regions. We are in the bottom 10% of all EU regions. Why is this the case? A few months ago, Dr. Ray Griffin, speaking at the relevant committee, said he had done significant work on capital trackers, that is, tracking major capital spending. As the Taoiseach knows, it is difficult to do that in real time. However, Dr. Griffin's first-generation analysis shows 64% of capital spending on major projects goes to Dublin. On a second iteration, he revised that to 56%, but it is still a 2:1 ratio. That answers the question as to why.

In regard to regional housing activity, the picture is awful. In January, the CSO released the 2023 data on new dwelling completions in Ireland. Some 11% of those were in the northern and western region, yet we have 17% of the population. A further 24% were in the southern region, which has 33% of the population. Some 65% were in the eastern and midlands region, which has 40% of the population. Under this Government and those that preceded it, regional imbalances are escalating across one sector after another. What does the Taoiseach propose to do to change that direction of travel?

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