Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I will ask the same question of both of our witnesses. They have mainly referred to infrastructure. In Dublin, more of the focus is on transportation infrastructure, along with childcare. Nationally, the focus is on water services and the energy grid. These are issues close to my heart. They have come up at this committee and at the EU affairs committee, in terms of the deficit that exists. At our last meeting we said that the disconnect between the Civil Service and the various Government Departments, in terms of trying to effect change, has reached a certain point. Do our witnesses have any suggestions on what needs to be done in this regard?

I have personal experience of dealing with two strategic development zones in south Dublin. I am familiar with the South Dublin Chamber from that perspective. In SDZs, one can try to tie in the phasing of infrastructure. There have been various arguments among councillors about what the approach should be. For example, is it right to delay housing by providing that a childcare facility be provided for every 1,000 houses? Public transport infrastructure has been missing from the SDZs. When Adamstown was being developed, it was decided that the Phoenix Park tunnel needed to be open by the time a certain number of houses had been built. What is the witnesses' view on the idea that a major arterial bus route should be ready to go through zoned land for 10,000 houses once that housing gets the go-ahead, even if is just a skeleton service? Two issues arise when such a requirement is in place. First, there are delays in getting houses built because of all the planning obstructions and bureaucracy. At the same time, if people are complaining about a lack of childcare, we have to tie in these issues by putting in place a requirement, when land is being zoned for housing, to build communities and not just housing. Is there a way to square that circle?

My personal view on strategic infrastructure is that we should spend a lot of front-loaded money, such as the Apple money, and we should borrow if necessary in order to fix the grid, build the water infrastructure for housing and reach the point of becoming a net exporter of energy in the next 15 years. We should ramp up wind and wave capacity in order to feed into the interconnector going to Europe, Northern Ireland and the UK, to ensure we are not importing energy anymore and to have money to spend on other infrastructure. I know that Chambers Ireland has an international affairs element, so I wonder whether the witnesses have considered this issue with colleagues outside Ireland. In their interactions with other chambers, what is the best practice they have seen that would help us to get rid of the kind of bureaucratic stop we have in this country?