Mr. Paul Hogan:

We are also dealing with an ageing population and the need for people to be proximate to services, neighbours and so forth as they get older. We are supportive of initiatives and ideas that can address such issues. The Department does not have perfect knowledge of every place in the country and we are willing to consider proposals and schemes from communities that are often promoted at county level. For example, in Tipperary, there is a scheme for small scale residential development in villages, which we have supported. We have the urban fund for the larger towns and the rural fund through the Department of Rural and Community Development. It is open to local authorities to bring forward ideas and schemes to deal with such situations. Under the urban fund, for example, we have indicated willingness to fund compulsory purchase in an urban context.

There is a willingness to change. There is the concept of transition in that we will not be able to do it all at once or overnight. We are working to influence what can be done. One of the concerns that has arisen around the country is that there is a feeling that some of our density standards, particularly when it comes to smaller scale settlements, might be seen as too high. We are committed to examining that on a cascading level as it relates to smaller, more peripheral locations where urban densities are not necessarily required if it will mean regeneration, and to look at the services issue because in some instances the issue is services.