Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. The aim of the national spatial strategy, NSS, includes 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 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 gateways and their wider regions are performing well, albeit with 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.

The research confirms previous work by the Department, in conjunction with the two regional assemblies in 2009 in developing a gateway development index, that some of the other larger gateways, like Waterford, are not performing to their full potential and that is adversely affecting the performance of their wider regions. The conclusions of the 2009 gateway development index fed into the NSS Update and Outlook Report, which was published in October 2010 and reaffirmed the importance of implementing long-term planning frameworks such as the spatial strategy. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, continues to work with other Departments and agencies and the local government sector under the following headings: better alignment and prioritisation of scarce infrastructural investment; improved governance at national, regional and local levels; and the promotion of more sustainable patterns of development, both in 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, this Government is taking real steps to prioritise the development of the gateways in a way that previous Administrations did not. Taking up the governance theme referred to in the update and outlook report, the Senator will also be aware that the Minister of State is currently 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, as well as other matters. The rationalisation of local government structures in a number of areas, including Limerick and Waterford, is also live on the agenda at present. This is not just talk about joined-up government but rather implementing the NSS.