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

I will again try to respond to the points raised. As there is a lot of commonality in the issues raised, I will not go back over absolutely everything.

The Chairman is absolutely right when he says we need to have regions that can compete with Dublin. That is what we are trying to do in striking a balance and enabling the regions to compete. That said, Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick have to compete with other places in Europe and the rest of the world. The challenge is to get the balance right. We certainly need to increased competition within Ireland and make sure investment is spread throughout the country. However, we must recognise that we need cities in Ireland to be international players. That is why we must also grow the cities; otherwise they will decline and not thrive and opportunities will be missed. The Chairman is absolutely right, therefore, that it is all about getting the balance right. Reference was made to the fact that development should not be a question of either/or, but members must understand rural Ireland also needs strong cities. There is no doubt that is the case. Ireland as a whole needs them.

Deputy Grace O'Sullivan commented on my use of the phrase "business case". I think the Deputy knows that I am not obsessed with business. I am a community person and the plan is about developing communities, towns and villages and providing various services. Therefore, when I use the term "business case", I am referring to the book of evidence to win investment. A youth centre needs a business case. If one wants to open a new hospital, one must make a case for such investment. That is what I mean when I use the term "business case". I do not mean that it is all about economics and winning jobs. It is not just about that, but one must make a case. When I describe the national planning framework as the business case for investment, what I mean is that it sets out a vision for the country. Decisions will be made on all of the infrastructure that has been mentioned, but one has the evidence. National, regional and local plans are the evidence for investment. Following on from this, there will be investment in energy projects, technology, broadband infrastructure and so forth in order to make the plans happen. No one spends taxpayer's money without making the case for such expenditure. That is what I meant. I want to make it clear that I am not obsessed with economics and business. The aim of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and the Department is to develop communities socially and economically.

The Deputy also referred to energy projects and the opportunities available in rural Ireland. I totally agree with her. Several years ago I visited the small town of Güssing on the Austrian-Hungarian border. It has a population of less than 2,000. It had turned itself around completely from a job creation point of view. It had an unemployment rate of almost 80%. Now it has an employment rate of over 130% as a result of investment in green energy projects. It is producing energy in small rather than huge plants, for which it is often very difficult to gain community acceptance. There are lots of opportunities for rural towns and villages to contribute in many ways. The Deputy is absolutely right in that regard.

It is true that a lot of the projects I mentioned are road projects, but we also envisage further investment in the rail network. Members referred to many rail projects. While we do want to see investment in both light rail and high speed rail services, we must have the critical mass of people to justify it. Reference was made to Galway and Cork, but if 75% of those building houses in Galway are not living in the city, there will never be the critical mass to justify investment in a light rail system in Galway. At the same time, if we do not invest in light rail systems and the provision of bus corridors and roads, as a city Galway will suffer. It needs that balance of investment. That is what this is about. The same applies to Cork and Dublin in the context of metro north and other projects - if we do not have sufficient people, we cannot justify the investment. I know all about this because for most of my life I have been arguing for the provision of a rail connection to Navan. It is about having enough people to justify the investment. One could argue about decisions made by previous Governments, but one must recognise that we need sufficient people to pay for such investment to make it work. That is why we refer to having 50% of growth in cities because we must build them up, but to provide any service, there must be a critical mass of people. It is easier to service villages if there are people living in them. That is what we are trying to do.

Deputy Niamh Smyth listed a range of projects, most of which I would probably support because they affect my own county too. However, I am not here to tick a box for various projects. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice raised similar issues. The plan is about the why and the where. Why would one want to have a road running through County Monaghan? Why would one upgrade the existing road to motorway standard? What is the reason for it or the rationale behind it?