Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank Members for the opportunity to outline the background to the rationale, content and recommendations of the national spatial strategy update and outlook report 2010. The national spatial strategy was published in November 2002 as a high-level 20-year national planning framework to guide the achievements of more balanced regional development to long-term planning and infrastructural investment. Implementation of the national spatial strategy takes place at three levels: nationally, by informing and influencing other national plans and strategies such as the National Development Plan 2007-2013; regionally, by setting the strategic planning context for regional planning guidelines which in turn integrate and co-ordinate the city and county development plans of the local authorities; and locally, through city and county development plans and local area plans and the actions of local authorities, Departments and agencies at local level.

In the early years of implementing the national spatial strategy, Ireland continued to develop rapidly in terms of economic growth, population change and physical development and the strategy helped to set Ireland on a new development path that is more strategically focused and plan-led than in the past. Building on the adoption of regional planning guidelines that covered the entire country for the first time in 2004 and the issuing of statutory ministerial guidance on the preparation of development plans, development management practices and sustainable rural housing, there were strong indications that this plan-led focus was beginning to have a real effect on planning policies and practices at a local level.

Since late 2007, however, and in tandem with a wider global economic downturn, Ireland has faced renewed and serious economic challenges and is now operating within tough budgetary conditions and fiscal constraints. The Government's strategy for economic recovery outlined in the policy on building Ireland's smart economy identifies the fundamental importance of returning to export-led growth. To achieve this, addressing Ireland's overall cost competitiveness relative to competitor countries is critical. At the same time, prioritised and strategic investments to pump-prime the potential of the regions is vital to positioning them as key contributors to Ireland's overall national growth when the current difficult economic cycle ends.

In these challenging economic times, therefore, spatial planning frameworks such as the national spatial strategy are even more relevant and important in maximising the long-term value of investment of increasingly scarce public funds. Regions are critical in creating a good place to live and to do business and spatial planning plays a key role in setting the framework for delivery of competitive and attractive places.

Taking account of the fact that implementation of the national spatial strategy is approaching its midway point and of the changed economic and other circumstances since its publication eight years ago, my Department has prepared the national spatial strategy update and outlook report 2010. The report has two main functions. First, it examines what has been achieved to date and what can be learned from implementation to date. Second, the report sets out a revised implementation framework aimed at maximising the spatial planning and regional contribution to economic recovery and long-term national competitiveness and sustainability.

The national spatial strategy update and outlook report is, therefore, a critical appraisal of progress to date and an implementation roadmap for the near to medium-term future. It is important to recognise, however, that it is not a review of the policy rationale or structure of the strategy. In preparing the 2010 update report, my Department undertook extensive analysis of relevant national and regional demographic and economic data as well as data and reports from central and local government, regional authorities, State agencies and academia. Throughout the drafting, we consulted key stakeholders and policy informers, including key Departments, namely, the Taoiseach, Finance, Transport, Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, and Education and Skills; regional and local authorities; the enterprise agencies, including Forfás, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development; the National Competitiveness Council; the Economic and Social Research Institute; the Western Development Commission; the Northern Ireland Department of Regional Development and other relevant cross-border bodies; and eminent academic experts.

In addition, as part of the consultation process, senior officials from my Department's planning division addressed the Oireachtas joint committee in June to apprise the members of the purpose, analysis and actions arising from this work, and some useful points made at this session, in particular on the importance of harnessing the potential of rural areas, were reflected in the final document. The Department's planning division also consulted extensively with other relevant areas within our Department, including water services and local government policy sections which have a significant policy impact at regional and local level. In light of these extensive internal and external consultations, I am satisfied the analysis and recommendations in the report are robust and realistic.

The report sets out an honest appraisal of what has worked well to date in implementing the national spatial strategy and what challenges remain. In terms of achievements it examines the three levels at which the national spatial strategy operates, as already outlined.

It states that, at national level, the national spatial strategy has facilitated significant strategic public infrastructure by helping to direct investment in areas such as transport, water services and waste infrastructure. These help to create the conditions for long-term sustainable growth. At regional level, regional planning guidelines introduced in 2004 have enabled better co-ordination and integration of plans at local authority level as well as identification of regional investment priorities. At local level, many of the authorities and agencies at gateway and hub levels have worked to encourage a more strategic and co-ordinated approach to their development, aided by public and private investment, and successive Ministers have pursued appropriate alignment of plans at national, regional and local levels by commenting on and on occasion requiring such alignment.

I would like to outline briefly some of the more significant spatial planning trends in Ireland since 2002, which have informed the recommendations in the report. Significant employment growth has taken place in and around the gateways, hub towns and other strategic locations identified in the national spatial strategy. Population growth in some gateways and hub towns has underperformed, while smaller towns, villages and rural areas within a 50 to 80 km commuting range of major cities and towns have experienced significant population growth. Excessive and inappropriately located zoning and development have worked against implementation of national spatial strategy principles and priorities. Development-driven planning and urban-generated commuter settlement patterns are creating demand for uneconomic and inefficient infrastructure and service provision in suburban and extra-urban green-field locations, while infrastructure and services in city and town centre locations becomes under-utilised. Development has become more dispersed and fragmented geographically, with greater distances between where people live and work. As a consequence, oil dependency has increased and greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector are increasing more rapidly than from other sectors of the economy.

Notwithstanding our demographic growth and settlement pattern trends in the recent past, the percentage of people travelling and choosing sustainable modes of transport continues to fall. Urban sprawl, with the resulting car dependency and longer commuting times, is reducing the quality of family life and broader community interaction and social integration. It also contributes to increased obesity levels and other health issues.

Land-use trends are in some cases undermining the integrity of Ireland's key habitats and ecosystem networks and placing pressure on the quality of our water resources.

Notwithstanding the progress that has been achieved in some areas and at some levels, a number of implementation challenges remain. The report acknowledges that Ireland must have more sustainable development patterns. It is well documented that the tendency to date towards rapid growth in suburban and extra-urban commuter areas around the principal cities and towns, and more recently a shift in the proportion of the current levels of house building towards housing in the rural hinterlands around many cities and towns, must be addressed.

Our city and town centre areas must be invigorated and should be a major focus for significant future housing and employment provision. As drivers of economic growth, these areas need to be attractive to investment and play a stronger role in regional development and central policy objectives, such as the Government's smarter travel objectives. We must maximise usage of existing infrastructure and revitalise underdeveloped urban areas in need of regeneration. Also, more needs to be done to address Ireland's high level of car dependence and recent trends of increases in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. Better national spatial strategy implementation can assist in this through both investment in public transport and sustainable travel alternatives such as walking and cycling facilities and greater emphasis on the delivery of more sustainable settlement patterns through regional and local planning policies.

The report identifies three main areas which must be addressed over the coming years so the national spatial strategy can better support more balanced regional development and also assist in national recovery and international economic competitiveness. First, the spatial policy dimension to all public and private investment co-ordination must be strengthened. The national spatial strategy and regional planning guidelines provide a coherent rationale for capital investment but we must improve existing arrangements for investment co-ordination and prioritisation between the capital investment activities of Departments and agencies and the planning and development activities of regional and local authorities.

Second, we need more effective leadership and strong governance models to drive the overall economic and physical development of the national spatial strategy gateways in particular and their wider regions. Delivering more effective governance under the forthcoming White Paper on local government, with a particular focus on gateways and regional authorities, is required.

Finally, we must encourage and promote the emergence of much more sustainable patterns of development by tackling the drivers for urban sprawl, maximising the opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions while adapting to the emerging effects of climate change and protecting the qualities of our rivers, habitats and heritage. Key to this is effective implementation of the planning legislation reforms contained in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 which will bring about a tighter and more evidence-based fit between where future development occurs and how the necessary public infrastructure can be provided in such developing areas. Also, the soon to be completed review of the regional planning guidelines endorses these objectives and will set the template for forward planning in county and city development plans.

The Government has recently re-affirmed the national spatial strategy as its policy for spatial planning and balanced regional development. It has also endorsed the recommendations in the report on how better to implement the national spatial strategy and to maximise the contribution it can make to facilitating job creation and improving national competitiveness. The recent review of capital investment, which was approved by Government in July, has made provision for a gateway innovation fund of €200 million, to commence in 2012, which will provide tangible financial support for development projects within the gateways. The House will be aware that such a fund was originally provided for under the National Development Plan 2007-13, and I welcome the Government's recognition of the need to continue to invest in our major urban areas and its commitment to boosting their future capacity and performance as drivers of economic activity.

One of the key lessons we have learned is that we must put in place robust and action-orientated monitoring systems to drive more co-ordinated implementation and review progress and challenges arising on a regular basis. To this end, my Department will be seeking nominations of senior officials from key Departments and agencies to participate on a refocused national spatial strategy implementation group, which will be tasked with implementing the recommendations in the report, particularly in relation to co-ordinated and prioritised capital investment under the sectoral programmes managed by those Departments.

In these tough economic times, we are not in the comfortable position where we can fund every piece of infrastructure and every service that we would like to. However, when we do have to take these hard decisions, it is important that we are cognisant of the wider implications of our policy decisions and that we provide, as far as we can, a coherent and joined-up strategy to optimise the return on the State's investment across different sectors. It is through the national spatial strategy that these decisions can be shaped and made as coherent as possible.

I again thank Senators for the opportunity to address the House on the national spatial strategy update and outlook report.