Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The lads around me might have a lot more grey hair by then but that is our plan. We will have the regional strategies from that in 2018 and they will be published. Also, local area plans will be adopted by 2019 and we will take account of the strategy in those. The earlier we can align all of our thinking and processes the better success we will have in delivering the strategy.

As will be stated in the planning Bill coming through, the strategy will be reviewed every five years. The strategy will be have a lot of reviews. We will formally track and monitor the strategy every five years. If we want the strategy to work and achieve all of our different ambitions then have ongoing monitoring. Monthly and quarterly monitoring and analysis of progress has led to success in the other action plans that I have been involved in.

Members were correct to say that the budget is important.

The recent budget was limited in what it could achieve in terms of the capacity it had, but there is far more potential in the years ahead. However, as I have learned in politics and in the last few years as a Minister of State in different Departments, if one does not put forward one's argument and the case for investment no budget can save one on the day. This is about doing one's homework. If one wishes to target investment in a certain direction, and all of us buy into that here, one must make one's plan and put forward the logic behind it. It is the business case. I urge people to see these plans as the business cases to win investment and to drive the direction of the country. This plan will have a much stronger influence on budgets in the future because we are setting down and agreeing the ambition and direction of where we are trying to go. That is what we must achieve if all goes well, and there will be scope in future budgets to achieve it.

With regard to not forgetting Carlow, Wicklow or any other place, this plan is about ensuring there is equal opportunity for all the regions and that everybody's voice is heard, not just Senator Murnane O'Connor's whose voice is very strong. Again, one is giving these places a sense of purpose, but there must be an economic reason for locating and living in a certain place. It is not viable for people to continue driving in a car for two hours. If that was the case, we would have been born with wheels, not legs. We are trying to give people the option to live and work in their local area, be it Drogheda, Navan or Carlow. For the information of Deputy O'Dowd, Navan is in a similar situation to Drogheda. This plan does not limit the ambition or the growth plans of any town or village. Drogheda and Navan are two of the largest towns in the country and the Deputy lives in one while I live in the other.