Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is early days as the Government only has to hand the scoping document at present. However, anyone who agrees with and seeks good and proper planning would accept the concept of gateways and the idea of having regions with centres as important economic drivers of those regions as being important principles that work in all countries and which would be a basis of good planning. I do not anticipate any change in direction in respect of having such gateway entrances or centres of economic activity for regions that will work with the economic hinterland surrounding them. However, the Government intends to have wide consultation with all interested parties, including both the public and significant organisations that have an interest in this area. The Government intends to have a conversation on how the country has changed and on whether there are lessons to be learned from the previous strategy, as well as from actions that were taken subsequent to the previous strategy such as the decentralisation policy, which did not appear to relate greatly to what actually was contained in the national spatial strategy. It is important to have a good national spatial plan that works for the country, that identifies the strengths of different regions, that develops those strengths and has a plan and a policy that is clear and which links into all the other agencies of the State, Departments and so on in order that there is a coherent policy and planning basis on which the country will be developed into the future.

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