Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are finished with Deputy Ó Cuív’s questions. We are already 15 minutes into his slot. We will proceed to the next question.

Regional development was an obvious major issue for the State in the last election. It is a major crisis across the State because we have such a concentration of development in the Dublin region with a lack of development in the other regions. This is causing major headaches for people living in Dublin because services are hard to come by and difficult to access. However, in the rest of the regions, we have a massive depletion in services and in population. To many the Government’s response to this and the budget allocated to it seems to be an empty husk. If one looks at the size of the problem and the Government’s response to it, it is not comparable in any way.

The spatial plan is happening within the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. This will be the first spatial plan since 2002. To a certain extent, we are travelling rudderless in this regard. What work is the Minister’s Department doing with regard to the spatial plan? The plan is the blueprint for future regional development.