Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State to answer the question I asked about decarbonisation zones. I welcome his analysis and all the work that has been done. He referred to the national planning framework. Drogheda is designated in the framework as a national growth centre but because the selection of decarbonisation zones is limited to one per county, the largest town in Ireland, the next to become a city, cannot take advantage of the access to new ideas and investments that will come through the Department, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, and other organisations. Will the Minister of State examine the regulations in order that in an exceptional case, a town that is a national growth centre could benefit in full as the other town, Dundalk, rightly and properly does from transport, active travel, civic buildings analysis, green spaces, biodiverse land use, air quality, waste management and all the other issues?

See this speech in context