Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to see good robust discussion about ideas and policies in the committee. We do not see enough of it in the big Chamber so it is nice to see it in this room.

I will scale through a couple of issues on NIFTI. Have any projects gone ahead over the past 20 years that the Minister believes would not have fallen within the framework of NIFTI as it has been constructed? By the way, I think is a fantastic framework. It is good and I welcome it.

What progress will be made on the Rosslare line? One of the objectives of the Government, which the Labour Party supports, is increasing freight by rail. A number of areas are booming in Ireland, one of which is Rosslare Europort, which has seen a 400% increase in traffic since Brexit. However, everything that comes off those boats goes onto the roads. What is the Minister's plan with regard to reopening the rail line there?

Another objective of the Government which everyone supports is the rolling out of greenways. They are a success no matter where they are. Are there any regions or areas in which there are competing priorities with regard to providing a greenway and also getting a rail line back into use for either a metropolitan line or the use of freight? Can the Minister shed any light on that?

While I am discussing that area of the country, I will mention the Barrow Bridge that links counties Wexford and Kilkenny. What are the plans regarding the future of that bridge? Will it be left in the open position for navigation? Are there any plans with regard to that? One of the points of NIFTI is sustainability, protection and renewal. This bridge, for example, is vulnerable to damage from storms such as the recent Storm Barra. I am interested in hearing the Minister's thoughts on that.

Greater balanced regional development is something we all want to see and to which we all aspire. There is a big debate about flexible work this week, which we have touched on in this debate. Is the Minister satisfied with the Government's plans with regard to people being able to work from home and having a guarantee that they can do so? This will be key. We are already seeing the fruits of it in the property market and people's desire to go back and work in the communities in which they grew up or perhaps in a new community. There is a desire to live in rural Ireland but it needs to be backed up with a workers first approach so that people can have certainty that if they are resettling or want to resettle, their jobs can go with them and decentralisation can happen, be it in the private or public sector. It can happen now by people working from home as opposed to trying to move a whole Department and all the rest, as happened 20 years ago. There are huge opportunities here. I would be interested in the Minister's thoughts on that debate as it relates to regional development.

On town centres, I spoke to a woman before Christmas as she moved into an apartment in a town in my constituency. It is not above a shop; it is in an apartment block. It is adjacent to being above a shop, however. She commented how positive that was and how she felt she was right in the centre of things near the shops and coffee shops she goes to. Above-shop living is actually quite desirable to people. When does the Minister believe changes will be made in our planning legislation and planning objectives to promote that? We saw it on a grand scale when we had the lockdowns in Dublin and the major cities in 2020. They were deserted because people were no longer living in them.

My dad met his brother and his best friend in the centre of Dublin where they grew up. He commented on how Thomas Street is just not the vibrant street it used to be when he grew up. I replied that neither he, his brother or his best friend live there any more. They went back because that is their home. They go back for a pint and all the rest but how do we ensure the next generation of people who are growing up there will stay in the city and that we can return people to the centre of our cities in a very real way? We know that developments are coming through. I am not someone who likes to object to development because at the coalface of advice clinics, I see people who need roofs over their heads. As patchy as our current social housing framework is at the moment, a portion of anything that is built will go to our local authorities for allocation. That is still a driving force, however broken our system may be.

When will we really and truly deliver public and affordable housing in communities, be it above a shop or a one, two or three-bedroom dwelling? Whatever the units may be or however they look, when are we going to deliver to the extent that we will really regenerate Dublin, Galway or anywhere in between?