Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Hussey for that. I would certainly be concerned that we are at the end of the road with the draft. It is regarding how we achieve true balanced regional development. That is a term, like sustainability, whose meaning has been diluted over the years to the point that it does not really mean so much anymore. We do not talk about it in the kind of detail we should. I strongly feel from the draft NPF review I have seen that the population targets for the regional cities are not ambitious enough to justify the kind of infrastructure and investment that would be needed to drive the fast and sustainable growth, particularly in the area of rail. In the narrative and in the numbers in the draft, the ambition is quite low for the regional cities, such that if the State is pursuing the NPF as a strategic vision for what the country should be, it is not going to support the case for metropolitan rail systems in the regional cities.

On the other hand, it names road projects which will really pull these cities in the direction of low-density sprawl at the periphery and beyond, and not just sprawl but dispersed settlement as well. I believe 30% of all new development is allowed for outside of built-up areas. It is a huge concern of mine that the ambition within the NPF does not support the State investment in rail infrastructure in particular, which is this kind of infrastructure that supports density and developing density quickly more than any other kind of transport infrastructure. Has the CCAC any comment on that?