Professor Edgar Morgenroth:

In my day job I would have looked and continue to research balanced regional development. It is clear that the two are actually complements, the compact growth and balanced regional development. Ultimately, that is what has informed the NPF in its focus. It would be important not to lose that focus on developing the critical mass in the larger places, which ultimately has to be compact to be effective, to facilitate those regions. That includes outside of Dublin. If we want to have strong regions outside, we need to get that critical mass going. That by necessity requires compact growth, so they are complements.