David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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The purpose of this Adjournment matter is to evaluate the performance of the national spatial strategy and Waterford as the gateway city to the south-east region. A recent ESRI report entitled, Enterprise and Labour: Hubs, Gateways and Inter-regional Specialisation, measured the progress made in the ten years since the publication of the national spatial strategy. The figures give rise to concern for Waterford and the south east. It showed Cork, Galway, Dublin and Letterkenny were the only areas that gained employment. Dublin, Cork and Galway saw a combined increase of 12.5% in employment share but the other gateways, including Waterford city, had a decrease of 12%. There is something systemically wrong in the south east and to me there is no natural reason the region should be underperforming. The recent live register figures show the unemployment rate in the region is 19.5%, 5% ahead of the national average, as bad as that is. The south east has most of the ingredients. It has a strong agricultural sector and there are ports in Waterford and Wexford. We also have easy access to markets, and there are recent improvements in infrastructure with the construction of the bypass, the second bridge in Waterford city and the outer ring road. There has been much infrastructural development in recent years.

The $1 million question is why the region is underperforming, and the answer to that partly lies in the region itself. Nevertheless, most of the blame lies in the fact that the national spatial strategy did not come with any implements or tools to back it up. For example, the enterprise agencies have never positively discriminated in favour of Waterford as a gateway city or the south east in general. Government employment policies have not had a real and tangible regional focus, and the south east does not have a university, which puts it at a unique disadvantage. Waterford city is the only gateway without a university.

It is also interesting that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is seeking to merge the two local authorities in Waterford, in the process removing the autonomy of the authority for Waterford city. He is not doing the same for Galway on the basis that it may compromise the gateway city of the west. Why is there one rule for Galway and a different rule for Waterford? These are genuine questions.

Policy is on paper but the national spatial strategy must be backed up with resources and tangible instruments that deliver change. We must get to the bottom of the question of why the south east is underperforming. In the Lower House earlier today, one of the Minister of State's colleagues, Deputy John Deasy, stated that we were not performing because of the reputation of the trade unions. It was a disgraceful attack on the trade union movement and had no basis in fact, and the Deputy was scapegoating the trade unions for Government failures. We must ensure that the region has the resources it needs, that the national spatial strategy does not just exist on paper and that it has the instruments, resources and tools to be able to ensure that places like Waterford and the south east deliver. That is why I have tabled this matter for debate.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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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.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response, which cites better alignment and prioritisation of scarce infrastructural investment, better governance locally and in the region, and the promotion of more sustainable patterns of development. It does not deal with the critical ingredients we need, such as positive discrimination by the enterprise agencies, their performance for the region and what they must do. National enterprise policies must also reflect what the national spatial strategy was designed to do, which is deliver for all the regions. The response does not deal with the need for increased educational infrastructure and, more critically, university facilities.

The Minister of State might indicate to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the real concern arising from Galway as a gateway city retaining its single authority in Galway City Council. It appears the Government does not want to compromise the gateway status of Galway but it is seeking to merge the two authorities in Waterford. That would potentially compromise the gateway status of Waterford city. At a time when the region and city are underperforming, we must be very conscious of decisions taken by the Government which could make matters worse.