Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

At the launch of the national planning framework, the Taoiseach gave a very good speech on the need for us to invest in twenty-first century solutions for this country. It is a real concern in this House. Earlier this month IBEC said that what we need to do first is invest in finishing off twentieth-century solutions. It presented its connection plan this morning which involves thousands of new motorways and dual carriageways everywhere. It is the least sustainable plan I have ever seen. It beggars belief that IBEC is coming out with it. National planning framework officials came to the House last week and said our biggest problem has been sprawl and that we have to go back into the centres. That is the centre of the plan. The plan is about asking people for their views and listening. Will the Government give any direction to back up those officials and tell IBEC to wake up and that we have to bring life back into the villages, the centres of towns and the centres of our cities rather than continuing the sprawl, which the IBEC plan would almost guarantee?

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