Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with everything Deputy Martin has said. There is a number of falsehoods being put out there by independent people who are in favour of it and I will point them out to the Minister. The chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, has taken the unprecedented step of releasing a statement in order to debunk some of the myths, one of which is the assertion that a merger would produce significant economic growth while a boundary extension would not. There is no empirical evidence whatsoever to support that assertion. In fact evidence-based research in other areas indicates that a very strong metropolitan city of between 250,000 and 350,000 promotes significant growth in itself and also has a profound impact on its surrounding hinterland. These are the types of issues which need to be discussed.

The consultation period was extended by a week and only one political party in Cork put forward a submission.

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