Mr. Pat Vance:

I thank the Chairman and the members for the opportunity they have afforded us to present here today to discuss the forthcoming national planning framework, NPF. As they may be aware, the Association of Irish Regions is the representative body for regional government in Ireland whose membership is drawn from current and past cathaoirligh and the directors of the three regional assemblies. Two directors are here with us today, Mr. Stephen Blair on my left and Mr. Jim Conway on my right.

In line with wider public sector reforms, following enactment of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, the regional tier in Ireland also underwent considerable reforms with the abolition of the former eight regional authorities and the reconfiguration of two regional assemblies to become three, namely, the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, the Northern and Western Regional Assembly and the Southern Regional Assembly. These three new regional assemblies, which took effect on 1 January 2015, have been mandated by Government to take on significant new roles and responsibilities not least in the whole area of regional spatial and economic planning.

Members may be aware that each of the three regional assemblies now have a statutory duty to prepare, adopt and monitor a regional spatial and economic strategy for their respective regions. When prepared, these regional spatial and economic strategies will replace the current regional planning guidelines and provide a long-term economic and spatial strategy for the development of the regions in the years ahead. These regional strategies must, of course, be consistent with and complimentary to the NPF and, therefore, must be prepared in tandem with the development of the national framework. Clearly, the NPF, at the top of the planning hierarchy, must be sequentially prepared first but it is very important that the two processes are integrated to ensure mutual consistency. Accordingly, the planning staff in the three regional assemblies have been liaising very closely with their colleagues in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government as work on the NPF progresses.

The Association of Irish Regions is very supportive of the need to develop a new NPF to replace what is now a largely obsolete NSS, which dates back to 2002 and was prepared in a very different time. While the NSS had its faults, it was nevertheless a very important milestone as it represented the very first attempt in Ireland to have a spatial plan for the entire country. Having said that, it is important that, with the benefit of hindsight, we critically evaluate the weaknesses of the NSS and learn from our mistakes as we prepare for this new NPF. Unlike the NSS, it is very important that the proposed NPF is provided with a statutory foundation. Therefore, we would encourage the Oireachtas to proceed with passage of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill through all Stages in a timely fashion to ensure it is enacted before the completion of the draft NPF in 2017.

It is very important that the NPF is constructed as a whole-of-Government exercise with every Department of State committing to the policy framework and its subsequent implementation. Unlike the NSS, which was seen very much as simply a Department of the Environment strategy, it is very important that there is complete "buy in" to the framework across all Departments and State agencies. In addition, the proposed legislative requirement to have the NPF laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas will also help to enhance its democratic legitimacy. There is a need for an accompanying investment plan.

The NSS was a purely physical planning strategy which had no budget provision attached to it. Even the very modest Gateway Innovation Fund of €300 million identified in the plan never materialised. It is very important that the proposed NPF has an associated investment plan attached to it so that the priorities identified in the framework can be realised. Unlike the NSS, which did not set out clearly the implementation arrangements, it is critical that the proposed NPF contains details of how the framework is to be implemented. In other words, the NPF needs to identify the "what, the who and the how", what measures-actions are to be taken, who is responsible for delivering them and how they are to be delivered and when.

One of the accepted weaknesses of the NSS is that it did not have a set of metrics which could measure whether the strategy was being implemented. Thus, for example, while the NSS was promoting the concepts of balanced regional development and regional potential, it did not set out any way of measuring this. It is imperative that in the formulation of the NPF, thought would be given from the outset of a set of metrics which could be used to monitor and evaluate progress on the implementation of the framework. For example, how is "regional potential" to be measured?

On the need for tailored policies for all parts of the country, there was a strong perception among the public that the national spatial strategy was just a strategy for urban areas and that rural areas were largely ignored and undervalued in the strategy. It is, therefore, very important that in constructing the national planning framework a vision is set out for all parts of the national territory and bespoke policies are devised which will contribute to developing the potential of all our regions.

There is a generally held view the national spatial strategy identified far too many growth centres, the gateways and hubs, which was unrealistic and counter-productive. Therefore, the proposed national planning framework should identify a more limited number of urban centres, which have the critical mass and are capable of being key drivers of regional economies. This will need to be followed by the prioritisation of national infrastructure to unlock the latent potential of these centres. This concentration of a smallish number of urban centres will need to be counterbalanced with policies and measures to further enhance and develop the potential of other regions.

As I have stated, the context in which the new national planning framework is being prepared is very different from that which pertained at the beginning of the century. Ireland is slowly emerging from a deep and prolonged recession and a recovery is far from uniform throughout the country. Furthermore, significant changes in the global economy have occurred which, when taken in conjunction with technological advances, make it a very different landscape in terms of job creation and retention. Therefore, in addition to the challenges set out above, the new planning framework will have to deal with a set of new challenges, not least how to avoid a two speed economic recovery and how to deal with the problems of congestion and other economies of scale in Dublin while at the same time dealing with issues such as population decline and economic stagnation in other parts of the country.

Other emerging issues arise from our climate change obligations and our need to become environmentally sustainable. Issues regarding renewable energy, energy efficiency and a low carbon economy must be addressed as does the sustainable exploitation of our extensive marine resources. What is very evident from an examination of past demographic trends is that the continuation of a business as usual model will see Ireland continue to develop in a very unbalanced way, with the greater Dublin area and east coast continuing to increase its share of population, labour market and economic output relative to all of the other regions in Ireland. Is this in Ireland's best interest? We in the Association of Irish Regions certainly do not think so.

As well as the imbalance in population and employment growth east to west, the past two decades have seen a very unsustainable pattern of growth. This is manifested in the fact it is not our cities which are growing most, but rather it is the outer suburban areas and satellite towns around our major urban centres which have reported the highest growth rates. This in turn has resulted in people having to commute increased distances and has led to increased car dependency, all of which we know is unsustainable. Given these long-established and powerful market forces, it is necessary for the national planning framework to closely examine what policy levers could be most effective in counteracting these market tendencies. This will necessitate building up very robust evidence-based decision making, which can underpin the development of the national planning framework.

As was stated here earlier, it is projected the population of the State will grow by a further 600,000 people over the coming 20 years. Together with forecasts of smaller household size, this converts to a need to build 500,000 houses over the period. Where are these houses to be built to accommodate this population growth? While birth and death rates are relatively stable and hence predictable, migration rates are not and are highly volatile. It is estimated that approximately 50% of future population growth will be accounted for by external and internal migration. These rates play a major role in regional population levels and profiles. If economic activity and opportunity influence migration patterns it can be argued an interventionist policy to deliver sustainable long-term economic opportunities in the region, supported by appropriate investment plans, may be the most appropriate solution for delivering balanced regional growth in a small open economy. It is, therefore, critical the forthcoming national planning framework provides the strategic framework which will shape the spatial patterns of development of the national territory in the coming decades by enabling and supporting all regions to fulfil their potential.

What is clear is that a focused and sustained interventionist policy, clearly articulated in the national planning framework, will be required if past embedded trends in population and employment growth are to be altered to support more sustainable patterns of development throughout the regions. The challenges are substantial, but the risks associated with doing nothing are even more profound and should not be contemplated.

We in the Association of Irish Regions are fully behind the need to replace the national spatial strategy with a new national framework at this critical juncture as Ireland emerges from the recession to guide and direct future spatial patterns of development over the coming decades in a more balanced and sustainable fashion than which occurred during the Celtic tiger era. Strong policies, matched with prioritised and sustained funding, will need to be put in place if the vision and goals of the national planning framework are to be realised. We in the regional assemblies will play our part in preparing and adopting complementary regional spatial and economic strategies, which will articulate in much greater detail the regional aspects of the national framework and will drive the implementation of the national planning framework at regional level.

I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to present our views. I and my colleagues will be delighted to answer any questions.