Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to speak in this debate and will limit my comments to issues relating to proper allocation of resources on a national basis. In so doing, I endorse IBEC’s call for an ambitious long-term planning and investment strategy for Ireland to redress the growing imbalance between the regions and the greater Dublin area. The Minster of State and Government understand the importance of redressing this imbalance. What we need is an implementation mechanism that will deliver change.

I seek confirmation that implementing legislation for the framework will include a requirement for all Departments to prepare budgets in accordance with projected growth figures and that budgets should be allocated accordingly. It should also include the requirement for a formal review on a biannual basis of actual growth against projected growth and where growth projections are not being met, appropriate action should be taken.

Given the planned growth in the regions, will the Minister of State confirm that national agencies such as the National Transport Authority and other national entities that are directly funded by the State will be given a mandate encompassing the entire State and not just Dublin? The impression in rural Ireland is that many national agencies are overly concentrated on Dublin-centric issues. Galway has a particular problem where some 7,000 workers experience near-constant gridlock in Parkmore business park. Our national agencies must become more involved in resolving difficulties outside of Dublin. A number of specific projects are contained in the draft, including the proposed development of a new science and innovation park in Cork. Will they be replicated in Galway to service the west of Ireland?

Will the Minister confirm that services required to support the increased population in Galway and the west will be appropriately budgeted for? Given that the current ageing facilities at University Hospital Galway, UHG, are not fit for purpose and do not provide an appropriate environment to safely manage the current and future care needs of the population of the west and north west, can the Minister confirm that an appropriate budget will be allocated for a new acute hospital to service Galway and the region? UHG is designated as a centre of excellence for the west and north west, from Donegal down to Clare and as far east as Athlone, covering a population of more than 800,000. Some 196 senior clinicians working in UHG have told the Minister for Health it is completely unsuitable and a new acute hospital is required urgently. We can talk about science parks and roads from here to Timbuctoo but the health infrastructure in the west is crumbling and we should reorder our priorities to ensure the more than 800,000 people in the west and north west get the best care in the best facilities possible.

According to projections by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, reported on the news this morning, Ireland’s population is on course to increase by almost a quarter by 2030, which, combined with a projected increase of up to 94% in people aged 80 or over, will have significant implications for the health service. This will have considerable consequences in the west and north west where our hospital infrastructure is already not fit for purpose. Nobody expects a hospital to appear overnight but we must start planning for a major acute hospital for the region. Otherwise, as the ESRI report clearly shows, our health service will in no way be able to cater for the increase in population.

As An Taisce notes, the history of Irish planning has been marked by successive implementation failures of plans and strategies. It is the biggest obstacle to achieving the goals of any policy. An Taisce's considered opinion is that the standard necessary to avoid the mistakes of the past is that local authorities and regional assemblies “shall comply with the National Planning Framework”. Equally all Government expenditure needs to comply with the national planning framework. I fully agree with those sentiments. Most of us in this House have had experience in local government as members of various local authorities. How many of us have seen various strategies by various Governments go down the black hole of local government? If this plan is to succeed, it is necessary for the executives of local authorities to be made accountable to Government for the implementation of national policy.

I very much welcome the national planning framework. I commend the Minster of State on his sterling work to date. It is an opportunity to properly construct a framework that will serve the infrastructural needs of Ireland for a generation.

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