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

No. I thank Dr. Hughes for coming in and for the deep and detailed report he sent to us. It was fascinating. It is startling that 70% of the total State tax revenue comes from the greater Dublin area. Something like 74% of growth that happened between the two censuses happened in the Leinster area, which is incredible. The fact the population of a number of different counties, even some counties combined, could fit into Croke Park shows that we have had a lopsided, spatially rudderless type of growth over recent years which, as Dr. Hughes says, creates the potential for a city state. Unfortunately, the rest of the country may end up as a national park to that city state. I agree with the argument Deputy Ó Cuív made that there are two conflicting objectives. First, there is such demand in the urban space of Dublin that it will be difficult to feed if from capital investment. The other objective is we need to disrupt that demand to a certain extent by creating other locations in other parts of the country that develop the necessary critical mass to create an even balance. Dr. Hughes said it is necessary for those regional cities to double in size. How do we do that? Do we create a formula that outlines two types of spend in our capital investment, one for Dublin demand and the other for demand disruption? How do we orientate Government investment to disrupt it? Will Dr. Hughes give us an example of another country that did it?