Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to make some concluding remarks. As I was saying last night, we know that every major metropolitan region in Europe is pulled along economically by a dynamic city at its core. Dublin has begun to wear that mantle since the turn of this century but it would be invidious if we now came along with this kind of indicative plan, or legislative plan, which would restrict the development and growth of Dublin. After all, Dublin is still a relatively small city by comparison with, for example, the 5 million population of Athens, the 5 million-plus in Barcelona, the near 5 million in Manchester, the 3 million to 4 million in Vienna or the 2 million-plus in Budapest. When we compare it with what we would regard as premier division cities of the European Union, Dublin is still a relatively small city of some 1.5 million people, if we count the four Dublin counties.

Although there is no reference to it in the plan, one noticeable aspect of all of those dynamic cities is that they have an elected local city leadership. This is one thing we could have advanced and had ready for 2019, particularly for Dublin and Cork.

Dublin critically needs infrastructure across a range of areas, from health to transport to schools to housing. At Leaders' Questions last week, I raised the urgent need for social and affordable housing in the city and the four Dublin local authority areas. My constituency of Dublin Bay North has the longest housing list in Ireland. The plan remains lethargic in that regard. The delivery for 2015-17 in which the Minister was involved has not happened, or at least not in Fingal and Dublin city. I welcome the social housing target of 20,000 to 25,000 units for 2020 and subsequently the 30,000 to 35,000 target. We still seem to be running to stand still.

I do not disagree with the idea of there being a more compact city in appropriate areas although the people who make these planning decisions should be prepared to live in more compact high-rise buildings themselves. One finds that the people who make these plans live way out in the countryside in large haciendas and plan for others to live on the fourteenth floor or the fifth floor with no lift, which has happened to residents in my constituency. The plan does not recognise the full scale of the housing crisis in Dublin. While I welcome the national regeneration development agency, it is not the agency which I asked that the Taoiseach set up, which would have been available to look at all land. We need close cohesion with local plans, such as the Fingal plan and the Dublin city plan in my constituency. In the north fringe and south fringe we have had the awful situation where there was no strategic development for a new urban region, which was effectively another city the size of Waterford, and have suffered all the massive problems for the last decade as a consequence.

In transport, I warmly welcome what I hope is the final decision to proceed with metro north. I cannot understand why it would be delayed in any way in order to link up with the existing Luas green line. Naysayers such as Colm McCarthy have come out already to complain about the €3 billion cost of this public transport infrastructure but we will soon have one of the biggest airports in Europe and one of the few airports in a major city that does not have a fixed-line rail link to the city centre. I welcome it because originally we were to have a northside Luas.

Referring briefly to national infrastructure, I do not understand the lack of any plan for a motorway to the north west and why it is not a national task. Why is the M11 not extended all the way to Rosslare given Brexit? I support the Cork to Limerick and Western corridors as timely connective developments. If any of these huge infrastructure developments take place it will lead to significant jobs growth but we have to worry whether the 660,000 jobs mentioned can be delivered.

I do not have the time to raise the concerns I have on education and on the marine environment, which I know the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will raise himself, but on health I do not see the influence of Sláintecare and its delivery in the plan. The plan refers to a new elective hospital for our region. In the northside, Beaumont has always been at 120% to 130% capacity. I do not see why the proposed new hospital should not be somewhere such as Swords or the Swords-Donaghmede interface.

Strategic planning for the country's future is of the upmost importance but Project Ireland 2040 would have been better had there been cross-party agreement. There will be some legislative plans on planning regulations and so on but there should be general agreement on how we advance Ireland and make it a prosperous, peaceful and well-developed country by 2040.

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