Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister outline some of the dates for when the public consultation process will get under way and when there will be engagement with the Departments and various stakeholders, local authorities etc.? What role will the new national planning framework have in the context of the capital review? The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, has given an indication that the framework will be restricted to an area south of a line to Galway city and including that area: other areas north of Galway city will not necessarily be included in that national planning framework. In terms of Brexit - that is the subject of my next question - the area that will be most impacted is the Border region. What specific Brexit initiatives will be in the review of the capital plan to assist it?

I have asked the next question consistently. What engagement has the Minister had with the European Commission around State aid and expenditure rules or their commitment to allow for capital expenditure beyond normal rules. President Juncker at the beginning of autumn stated that he wanted to see investment in infrastructure. This can be viewed particularly in the context of the pronouncements from the US relating to capital.

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