Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This plan has been at least three years in the making. The job began when Deputy Alan Kelly was the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, continued when I was there for a year and is being finalised by the current Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. In that period, there have been over 40 regional engagements with stakeholders. I personally chaired meetings in Sligo, Athlone, Cork, Waterford, Galway, Dundalk and two in Dublin to ensure the process was about a national plan which was not dominated by any one coast or city. The whole point of this is to plan for a very different type of Ireland from the one we have seen develop over the past 20 or 30 years in terms of where people live, how they move around and where industry and enterprise can grow and expand. This is about rebalancing the country over the next 20 years when we know an extra 1 million people will be added to our population. If the Deputy wants numbers on that, it is no secret that 75% of the increase must and will be catered for in the plan outside Dublin. Of the population growth, 50% will be outside cities. We are talking about a plan that is big news for rural Ireland as well as one which is very strategic for cities and big towns. Of course, the Border must be part of our thinking.

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