Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to address this key issue. I come from an area that has experienced consistent high levels of housing development over past decades where planning is a topical issue. As a member of Kildare County Council since 1991, I participated in making a number of development plans and saw at first hand the kind of pressure brought to bear by both landowners and speculators. I sought the inclusion of a broad strategy for development in Kildare. Eventually, after an almost warlike situation, that was the approach adopted. The strategy at least gave the public some idea of what was planned for their area, which was an improvement.

This country does not have a planning system, just a development system with planning controls. There is a significant difference between the two. This leads to the question as to why we end up with one-dimensional development where development is predominantly housing with infrastructure such as schools only being provided when the crisis kicks in. Leisure facilities are largely provided by endless community fundraising with a hope of lottery funding for those organisations that can raise the required local contributions. We see facilities such as sewage treatment systems at breaking point before an investment is made.

Planning must be about both physical planning and planning for services and infrastructure. It is difficult to see how the national spatial strategy will deliver balanced regional development. I was told through a reply to a parliamentary question last year that the national spatial strategy was basically a physical plan. Those areas designated hubs and gateways — too many of them — did not see it as a physical plan. The expectation is that the strategy will deliver much front-loaded infrastructure. With substantial land banks remaining in the greater Dublin area, it will not be the national spatial strategy but the market that will dictate where people will live. We plan for one thing but deliver something else and wonder why we have chaos. Local authorities are supposed to have regard to the regional plans. However, the words "have regard to" have been tested in court and have been found to be meaningless.

A significant constraint to which we should pay attention is the ability of the river Liffey to provide water in the eastern area. This ability is on a knife edge as there are two large abstractions due in the near future. The ability to provide water may well be what provides the ultimate constraint. The two abstractions due will be the final ones. If an industry like Intel arrived on our doorstep tomorrow, we could not accommodate it due to this critical constraint.

If we are to rebuild confidence in the planning system that has been so badly damaged by revelations in recent years and in the tribunals, we must get real about the system. This means we must interconnect housing and industrial development with the like of public transport. It means we must decide not just to build houses but communities.

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