Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will divide my comments into two sections, that is, as a constituency representative and then with some more general, national observations.

I will start with Cork, which is an area covered by the plan. I welcome the plan. It is very necessary to plan such a distance into the future to ensure balanced regional and national growth. However, there are gaps in the plan. Cork will probably grow in this period by 100,000 people, which is very significant growth. The population of the city council area does not reflect the population of the real metropolitan urban area. In order to ensure the area is sustainably and properly developed, there is a need for a number of things. Industry is key. There is reference in the plan to the need to develop the Port of Cork and some of the docklands areas. I note the reference to the development of the new science and innovation park but that has been on the cards for more than ten years-----

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