Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Consultation on the Draft National Planning Framework (Resumed): Discussion

3:00 pm

Mr. Paul Hogan:

There are two things. One is that they are minimum target populations. We are talking about a minimum of 50% growth in regional cities in a little over 20 years. The second is that it is a function of local planning. These are very large and ambitious targets. That has to be related to the scale of the place because there are serious capacity constraints if a settlement grows by 50% in 20 years. It can be configured locally in a certain way along, for example, a railway line, a rail corridor, a bus route or a bus corridor, and that may be achieved sustainably. Nonetheless, it requires choices and strategies locally.