Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I have six questions.

First, on the issue of balanced regional development, the over-concentration of economic and population growth in the Dublin region is bad both for Dublin and for the rest of the country. There is a benefit to having a much more proactive strategy of trying to achieve that goal all people say they want, which is more balanced regional development. I am interested to learn whether those who drew up the expert advisory report on the national spatial strategy looked at and came up with conclusions or whether anybody else in the Department or elsewhere looked at and came up with conclusions as to why that spatial strategy failed to produce balanced regional development, which was one of its own objectives. There was a reference to Scotland. Obviously regional development in Scotland is quite an important issue in terms of distribution of its own population. Are there lessons to be drawn from the Department's detailed knowledge of its national planning frameworks that could be applied here? Second, I am concerned on the basis of the presentation about the lack of any proactive engagement with the North and the Assembly in terms of the way in which our national planning framework could interact with comparable frameworks, specifically for the Border, midlands and north west region but also more generally in terms of the overall benefits of a truly national planning framework. I would like to hear more about the engagement, particularly at departmental level, that has happened with the Northern Ireland Assembly and your counterparts in the relevant Departments in the North? What will happen in the next period to ensure that it is not a blind spot in the plan?

I am even more concerned about the absence of any discussion on socioeconomic disadvantage. Socioeconomic disadvantage has a spatial and geographic reality. Mr. Paul Hogan mentioned the need to have interaction or synergy between the planning framework and the investment opportunities. If that is blind to the geographical distribution of socioeconomic disadvantage, then it will leave the status quoin place. I know it is something to which our planning discourse has a tendency to be resistant but has it been a feature of the discussions? Likewise, is it part of the conversation with the Irish Planning Institute? If not, I really think we need to consider it over the coming months.

This is not a criticism of the Department but I have another concern, having been through the county development plans and strategic development zones, I too like Senator Boyhan know stakeholder engagement is really tricky. The issue is getting people involved. It is not just about holding events but is about empowering ordinary citizens and stakeholders to have the level of knowledge about these technical and detailed fields of planning knowledge and that is really tricky. Trying to do that and have a draft document by the middle of the summer is even trickier. I wonder whether the Department is relying on the same models of stakeholder engagement as we would operate in local authorities or will something different be used, given the significance of this plan and the length of time available? I would be both delighted and amazed if we meet the target of the draft plan by the early summer. I notice that Mr. Hogan entered a caveat, by stating that would be the best case scenario. Again this is not a criticism but I wonder whether it is realistic to throw out something so ambitious. If it going to be a nice, short high-level strategic document, that is probably easier but I query that without saying I do not want it to happen.

The last question relates to Irish Water. Yesterday a number of us attended Irish Water's detailed briefing on their midlands-east region water supply proposal. Irish Water is currently engaging in a non-statutory public consultation that will run until February. The utility is planning to have a report mid-2017 and to then proceed to an application to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission by the end of next year. One reason I am interested in whether Mr. Hogan thinks he can meet his target of a draft report by the middle of next year is Mr. Hogan's report and Irish Water's proposal obviously have really significant interactions. If recommendations emerge from the Department's report on different priorities for regional development and infrastructural development, how will that conflict or coincide with such a major infrastructural proposition by Irish Water? Has Mr. Hogan been discussing that element of or the overall infrastructural plan with Irish Water and how will those two things coincide through out the course of the Department's work next year?