Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter which is of deep concern to me and to many in Waterford, which is designated a gateway city under the national spatial strategy. It should also be of concern to the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who is from Limerick city.

The national spatial strategy was published in 2002 to be a blueprint for economic and social development within the State over the following 20 years. It is very appropriate to have a study such as the recent report from NUI Maynooth presented midway through the full term of the national spatial strategy, NSS, now that ten years have passed. Balanced regional development requires that the full potential of each region should contribute to the overall performance of the State and be developed on a sustainable, economic, social and environmental basis. In itself, that sets the framework of the NSS. Balanced regional development should be the objective of any Government in order to ensure that all our citizens, no matter what region or county they come from, have access to sustainable living.

The NUI Maynooth economic report to the ESRI conference has identified failures of the national spatial strategy in terms of job creation and the attraction of foreign direct investment into the two gateway cities, Limerick and Waterford. I wish to speak specifically on Waterford as a gateway, being a Deputy from that constituency. In the period since 2002, more than 80% of the jobs created by new foreign firms have been created in the cities of Dublin, Cork and Galway. This means a very small percentage of new jobs have been created in Limerick and Waterford. We must ask why this failure is happening within a national plan. It highlights and confirms concerns that we in Waterford and the south east have had for some time about the region not getting due attention and investment as planned under the NSS.

The current unemployment figure for Waterford is 20%, considerably above the national average. This should cause great concern for the Government and for Deputies of any party. It proves that balanced regional development under the existing national spatial strategy is not working. If we look at this across a number of sectors, the same is reflected not only in foreign direct investment, but in the delivery of policy and public services. To take education, the south east is the only region in the country that does not have a university. I welcome that the programme for Government identifies a technological university for the south east is planned. I urge all Ministers to progress this so that we can redress the imbalance that has been identified.

In addition, I refer to the VEC headquarters for the region. Given that there is consolidation because of fewer resources, why have these headquarters been located out of Waterford, the gateway city, to Wexford, which is a hub? That is just the educational sector. In health care Waterford Regional Hospital caters for more than 500,000 people in the region but the south east is the only region without palliative care facilities. Why is that? Why has the delivery of Government policy failed to bring regional services for our citizens in the south east? It is obvious that palliative care should be provided for citizens in Waterford Regional Hospital. The CAT lab facilities are an example of modern facilities developed in WRH for early intervention for people who suffer heart attacks but it is only a part-time service, not a 24-7 service similar to that in other regional hospitals. Again, the question needs to be asked.

The national spatial strategy is failing some of our gateway cities and regions. It is high time the Government reviewed this strategy with a view to ensuring proper, balanced, regional development in those areas.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I share Deputy Coffey's concern and thank him for raising this issue.

The aims of the national spatial strategy include achieving a better balance of social, economic and physical development between regions through the co-ordinated development of nine gateway cities and towns, including Waterford and Limerick, and nine hub towns, together with complementary policies to activate the potential for lasting economic development in their hinterlands and wider regions.

The emerging research, which is timely and which I very much welcome, clearly confirms that some of the NSS gateways and their wider regions are performing well albeit in regard to an individual but very important indicator of employment. National recovery depends on individual regional contributions so the performance of gateways such as Dublin and others must be welcomed. However, the research confirms previous work by my Department, in conjunction with the two regional assemblies in 2009, in developing a gateway development index. This index showed that some of the other larger gateways, in particular Limerick-Shannon and Waterford, are not performing to their full potential. This is adversely affecting the performance of their wider regions. The challenge for gateways that are not performing to their full potential is to look to the success factors driving stronger gateways and replicate those conditions in their own areas. Long-term planning frameworks such as the NSS are important, but they need to be monitored continually to ensure they reflect wider economic and social circumstances.

The conclusions of the 2009 gateway development index fed into the NSS Update and Outlook Report, which was published in October 2010. My Department continues to work with other Departments and agencies and the local government sector in advancing actions identified in the report under the headings of: better alignment and prioritisation of scarce infrastructura investment; improved governance at national, regional and local levels; and the promotion of more sustainable patterns of development, in both rural and urban contexts, through more effective, evidence-based planning policies.

Much good work has been completed already. Through the adoption of updated regional planning guidelines and the introduction of core strategies in city and county development plans, the Government is taking real steps to prioritise the development of the gateways in a way that previous Administrations did not. The capital review will allow many good projects to progress in a co-ordinated fashion in many of the gateways, including housing regeneration projects, investment in schools and research and innovation capacity, water services and local transport initiatives.

With regard to the particular focus in the report on foreign direct investment, the Government is acutely aware that such investment is a major source of employment in Ireland, providing some 240,000 jobs, in both direct and indirect employment. In this regard, the IDA Horizon 2020 presents Ireland's strategy for attracting investors into Ireland and for investing companies and the economy to benefit mutually from the relationship. It is important to recognise that the IDA Ireland strategy is strongly aligned with the national spatial strategy. For example, the fourth of the ten steps to transformation in the strategy aims to encourage 50% of foreign direct investment projects to take place in regional gateways outside Dublin and Cork, obviously including Waterford and Limerick. In that regard and taking up the governance theme that was referred to in the national spatial strategy update and outlook report, I should mention that the Minister, Deputy Hogan, is finalising a comprehensive policy statement on local government that will address local government structures at regional, county and sub-county levels, their powers and functions and other matters. Steps have also been taken to rationalise local government structures in Limerick. The initiatives I have mentioned will ensure spatial planning supports and facilitates investment and development in the right place at the right time. I acknowledge that Deputy Coffey spoke about the high level of unemployment in Waterford, in particular. He also raised issues of health and education. I will convey his remarks to the relevant Ministers.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. I appreciate that planning now falls under her remit. It is important for the national spatial strategy to be continually reviewed and updated. I am glad the Government acknowledges that there have been failures and that imbalances need to be addressed. Employment is one of the most important indices for any region. As the gateway city for the south-east region, it is essential for Waterford to be prioritised by the Government. There should be a cross-cutting departmental response to the challenges that lie ahead. I have no doubt that the Government will do everything in its power to address those imbalances. If it does not, the south east region will sink further and fall further behind. Time is not on our side. I again thank the Minister of State.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In my initial response, I mentioned that one of the aims of the IDA Ireland strategy is for 50% of foreign direct investment projects to be located in regional gateways outside Dublin and Cork. As a Government, we need to continue to drive this approach, which clearly has a great deal of potential for Waterford and Limerick. I agree that there is a need to continuously review and update our responses to the national spatial strategy to ensure there is a focus on areas that are not performing as well as some other areas. As I have said, I empathise with Deputy Coffey's feelings with regard to Waterford because many of the same problems are being experienced in my own city of Limerick. I will follow up on this issue with my Government colleagues.