Dr. Tom McDonnell:

I consider that the main point is that the capital budget as outlined by the Minister is wholly insufficient. I identified those roads - as the Deputy said - but I also made the point at least twice already that I believed public transport to be just as important. The Deputy is correct that Galway's problems are internal to the city and I made that point also. Deputy Ryan is right that it is a great city but it is extremely hard to go anywhere after 3.30 p.m. and one does not get into the car between then and 7 p.m. as traffic will not be moving. Public transport must be the answer for that city, as it is for Dublin. That goes beyond buses and involves further extensions for Luas and light rail and ultimately linking up all of Dublin city. The same goes for Cork, Limerick and other urban spaces that are large enough to do that.

Housing policy must look at putting people into the centre of cities. There may be implications for maximum heights for buildings which I know is not necessarily liked by the Green movement but there is a debate to be had there.

With regard to the just transition, the Deputy is right. We are going to have to do it anyway and perhaps a commitment to climate change targets is one area where there could be a sense of European purpose to come out of the Council meetings in March. Green infrastructure throughout the EU, with the ultimate aim of becoming completely sufficient in renewables, is something that NERI and ICTU would completely support. Obviously there would have to be transition mechanisms to deal with workers who are in the polluting industries and that applies also to Ireland.

Reference was made to potential for a globalisation fund. Although I would associate that with Brexit, in this case it would be a de-globalisation fund. Ms King responded that the goal should simply be to keep those businesses going and tapered subsidies were suggested. There will need to be some mechanism in place, some kind of EU fund to deal with the industries that will go down because of these measures. It must be a combination of both. NERI is currently working on developing an enterprise policy for Ireland that would apply at a European level also. I assure Deputy Ryan that the green economy is very much central to that policy.

As for the planning framework review, the emphasis must be on the cities and in getting people to move to the cities. That, however, will create what would be perceived as losing regions. Ultimately, that is where our analysis would lead us. The perception will be that if one focuses on Limerick, Cork, Galway and Dublin, then all the areas that are not mentioned are immediately going to kill their view because they would be seen as the losers. The importance of a motorway network and rural broadband is that they ensure other regions of the country are not isolated from the economic hubs.