Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I said, I feel the current situation pertaining to Drogheda and the region in general is untenable. However, I look forward to reading the recommendations of the group when the report is published. I hope we will have a debate before the Minister makes a decision in regard to that process. I would like to establish when the Minister will publish the recommendations and when, ultimately, a decision will be taken.

There is a degree of suspicion around the reasons for the delay. I totally accept the independence of the commission and, as I said, I look forward to its report, but there is a compelling case for the extension of the borough boundary of Drogheda. Ultimately, of course, this will come down to a political decision by Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance. I hope I am wrong but I suspect the outcome might lead us through a process where we will be helped to a very large serving of fudge because the Government is not capable of making decisions that might even be mildly controversial. In fact, I am suspicious that we might be in the process of seeing these reports buried.

Since the process started, we have been subjected to the nonsense of county flag-waving by those who are opposed to the extension of this boundary. This nonsense should be dispensed with by anyone who is serious about sustainable planning, good planning, good local governance and job creation. Through the regional Action Plan for Jobs process, for example, we are in the process of establishing the Drogheda-M1 corridor area as a digital payments centre for this country, with some success, and we are competing for global investment. We all know that investors look at areas on the basis of the critical mass of the region and not necessarily where arbitrary lines are drawn.

Towards the end of last year, the then Government announced the review of the national spatial strategy, which we all know was a nakedly political document which bore no relationship to the reality of good planning on the ground or proper sustainable development. Criminally, the Drogheda area was entirely left out of the national spatial strategy despite being the fifth largest contiguous urban area in the country. It is important, before this process gains momentum in regard to the review of the national spatial strategy and the development of a new national planning framework, that the boundary of Drogheda is reviewed and regularised to reflect the reality of the situation on the ground.