Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We also had this discussion on Committee Stage. There has been a great deal of consultation on this plan.The legislation we are debating will ensure that the same consultation will take place under future Governments, regardless of who is in them. This Government has made sure we have honoured the spirit of it on this occasion by having that consultation. If the Acting Chairman will allow me, I will take a minute or two on this point as people have referred to the plan. I have heard people say that it will kill rural Ireland. I have watched rural Ireland. People mentioned Westport and Clonakilty. In some of those towns, rural Ireland is flying and in other towns it is not. However, it has been declining for a long period of 30 or 40 years, not seven or eight years, because there was no national plan to address the problem. I strongly believe the national plan which we will launch on Friday will help save rural Ireland. It will give many towns and villages a purpose and a reason to function, develop, grow their populations and secure investment in their areas. Similarly, it will strengthen our cities and our regions to compete on an international level. They will compete with one another but also on an international stage to win jobs and investment. That is what having a national plan is about. I have no doubt about it. I am a Deputy whose constituency covers rural and urban areas. It is very close to Dublin and suffers the consequences of that, as well as some gains from that. I have no doubt in telling this House that the Ireland 2040 national planning framework to be launched on Friday will - if implemented, followed and invested in - save rural Ireland and future-proof this country. Future-proofing this country is what it is about. It is not about every town or village. Some people have said it should not be like the "Late Late Show" where there is one for everyone in the audience, but it might become that if there was a final vote in the Dáil. It is correct that the Oireachtas, through the Dáil, Seanad and the committee, has an involvement in the draft and that it would have this in the future. It is very important that it has that.

There is some confusion on the spend of €115 billion. That figure is separate to the planning framework that we will launch but they are being launched together because it is important that they are linked. While the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Taoiseach will announce the commitment of taxpayers' money, it is also true that it will have to go through a budget every year too. It is not correct to say that we are spending €115 billion of taxpayers' money without any say on the part of the Oireachtas. It will go through a budget. Every year, we come into the House for the current and capital budget. If we are to implement the proposed national planning framework, Ireland 2040, along with the capital plan, it must come through these Houses every year in order for the money to be allocated each year to the various Departments. That is the correct channels by which to spend money. Other national plans have been announced with a commitment of money. Other Governments have done so in the past, and rightly so, and the Oireachtas votes on them year-to-year with the money to be allocated.

On the commitment to regional balance, in order to get that growth again it must include cities, towns and villages and that those national decisions are made. Consultation is absolutely built-in. The reason we had this consultation is recognising new politics and how we do our business here, which is beginning to work quite well. I would hate for it to be spoiled over the next week over silly, petty arguments. There has been consultation on this for a long number of years. Anyone who wanted to could feed into this. I sat in on the first advisory meeting on this. We made sure that every Department and agency sat around the table on this plan, bought into it and had a role. Previous plans did not have that and they failed. I think it will be a top-class plan because of the consultation and the involvement of all Departments, all political parties, all councils which wanted to and all regional assemblies, and I have sat through many of those, which meant they all had a chance to feed into this. Everyone's view was taken on board, including all the Departments, and they were all part of this, which is why it will be a top-class plan but we must stand behind it and invest in it, and that includes the decisions we make every year after it. I have seen plans in the past that did not have that consultation and involvement. The reason for this legislation is it ensure that plans of the future have this involvement and consultation. That is what it is about. This debate has been confused about what we are doing this week and next week too.