Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. He spoke about the €5 billion additionally allocated from 2018 to 2021. How much of that is already allocated, for example, for housing? Will that particular allocation reflect the priorities in the 2016 to 2021 capital plan announced in 2015? It is already very outdated in some of its ambitions. For example, it has a broadband speed plan which is already slow compared to current technology.

Second, those areas will be excluded from the growth areas that will be identified as part of the planning framework. What future is there for those in terms of capital expenditure? Are we going to focus all our efforts on connecting the growth centres, excluding all other areas? Will we then allow a situation where we have such an imbalance of population and service and all of the pressure that comes with that not just in this city, but in Cork, Galway and some of the cities that have already been chosen? How are we going to ensure that imbalance does not happen? How are we going to ensure that we get some sort of permanent, sustainable development around the entire island as opposed to just in these growth centres?

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