Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There is continuity, because central to it is meeting the objectives of the national planning framework of better balanced regional development, compact development and low-carbon development, and that carries through. That is important because we could get fixated on the major Dublin transport projects and we must invest in Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick and in towns across the country as well.

The NDP is not finalised yet. We are still dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Rather than having a white list or a green list where anything in the box is definitely going to be built and anything outside it is gone, it is better to set out broad strategic objectives and broad budget outlines and to give the agencies and councils incentives to get good value for money, to speedily develop projects and to bring costs down. Sometimes when something is put in a white box, that gives everyone the signal that because it is a commitment it does not matter what it costs. There will be a commitment in the transport and communications sectors to maintain the exact sequencing. To a certain extent, it depends on which ones come through the planning first and which ones local councils support to be able to deliver in a cost-competitive way. It is appropriate that we have some tension or cost competition, in particular between cities on the transport side, so that we get good value for the money we spend. That is part of the reason the new approach is a better one.