Mr. Shane Tiernan:

I know parking is a contentious point in these new town regeneration plans and I totally understand that small businesses, which are struggling to survive in the face of rising cost pressures and everything else they have to absorb, feel very put out at times with these plans, as well as with, as Ms Ní Chuinn said, the pain during the construction phase and ultimately with the fear of the long-term implication. We are not here to eradicate parking; we are here to try regenerate our towns to make them more welcoming. If anybody wants to come to Roscommon town, it is the perfect example where we practically wiped out an entire central town parking area at the rear of the bank which is now the lovely town square with the covered space. I do not think there was ever greater footfall in Roscommon town than now because of what people are enjoying and want to see.

There is a need to have the parallel parking space at the side. It is no good getting rid of spaces and then to have nowhere to park. Obviously we are moving into a greener economy and trying to get people out of cars but cars still exist in rural Ireland. People cannot work from rural Ireland without cars. It is about creating those parking places and showing that the policy is working and to increase business volume in the towns because people suddenly are enjoying the towns and are spending.