Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

There is a hierarchy of towns. The gateways and hubs must grow to a certain level of population, as specified in the national spatial strategy. As Senator Coffey said, the CSO figures are static. Nothing can happen to the smaller towns until the hubs and gateways grow to the projected populations, as specified in the national spatial strategy. There will be no activities in the smaller towns. It will be a waste of time putting any plan in place in those smaller towns until the protected population is achieved in those hubs and the gateways. This is a farce.