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

I do not disagree with the Deputy on those calls, although we sometimes disagree on policy. I know she has raised social housing concerns in Galway over and over again, understandably so, given there are huge pressures in that regard in Galway city. There are currently ten local authority construction schemes in the pipeline which will deliver 365 units when completed - I can name them if the Deputy wants. However, that is not really what she is asking today, to be fair. She is asking where is the overarching plan for what the city will look like in ten and 20 years' time.

I have taken a strong interest in my own city in terms of what it will look like then. We are talking about light rail. We have a very clear picture of where new housing will be built and where the higher density, higher buildings will be built. We are trying to build a collective vision across parties for how Cork city, for example, will facilitate an extra 120,000 people in the next two decades, and not simply by extending boundaries. Project Ireland 2040 is very clear in terms of its plan for existing cities outside of Dublin. We want a 50% population growth target and, while we do not want the cities to be limited by that, it is the target. We want plans from local authorities that can deliver this in a sustainable way and that can focus on quality of life issues and work-life balance. We want to ensure that climate change and emissions management are a big part of that in terms of public transport delivery, which is why we are committing to spend hundreds of millions of euro on much smarter Bus Connects systems and also light rail, where appropriate.

The onus is on local decision making. The people who understand Galway best have to come forward with the detailed plans. What will happen now is that there will be regional plans to set the guidelines for planning the projects contained in Project Ireland 2040. However, the actual detail of that within individual cities has to come from those cities and the local governance structures within them.

See this speech in context