Gerald Nash (Labour)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Kyne, is most welcome. I am extremely concerned and, frankly, suspicious about the inordinate delays in the Drogheda boundary review process which was launched last year. As the Minister of State is aware, the previous Government conceded that the boundary between Drogheda and County Meath needed to be reviewed. The review was initially announced in June 2015 and the closing date for the receipt of submissions was 22 January 2016. Despite a nine-month gestation period, as it were, the baby has still not been delivered. In fact, the silence from the Government on the matter has been deafening.

The current situation is untenable and if the status quois allowed to continue, the Drogheda area will pay for it in missed economic opportunities, in particular. There are approximately 6,500 residents living in a small geographical area straddling the Louth-Meath border. Residents of large housing estates such as Highlands, Millmount Abbey and Grange Rath are supplied with local services by a distant local authority - not just in geographical terms - in Navan rather than one located one mile away on Fair Street in Drogheda. The areas on the Meath fringe are entirely contiguous with the urban edge of Drogheda, the largest town in the country that does not yet have the status of a city. In the delivery of sustainable services, sustainable planning principles and good governance, it is high time the situation was regularised.

Of most concern is the economic impact of this anomaly, particularly in terms of job creation, on the Drogheda area in general. The Meath fringe of Drogheda houses an IDA Ireland park that neighbours the N1 and is a 20-minute unimpeded drive from Dublin Airport but which has just one single resident, IFS State Street. There are at least two prospective investments in this, the best, IDA Ireland location in the country that have been held back and may be lost because of a lack of clarity on what the Government will do in the boundary process. One side of the road is in what was formerly known as the border, midlands and west, BMW, region, but the side of the road which houses the IDA Ireland park is not. For anyone who states they are interested in job creation, this anomaly needs to be addressed. For the Drogheda area, not just the town but the general area, to realise its full economic and social potential, the full and real extent of the town of Drogheda, including its environs in County Meath, needs to be officially recognised and formalised. The extension of the boundary needs to happen. Citizens, investors and decision makers need this clarity from the boundary commission and the Government sooner rather than later.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for tabling this Commencement matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, who is at a housing conference in the city.

In June 2015 independent statutory committees were appointed to carry out reviews of local government boundaries in Athlone, Carlow, Drogheda and Waterford. In each case the committee was asked to carry out a review of the boundary between the respective local authorities and make recommendations on those boundaries and any consequential matter it considered necessary in the interests of effective local government. The committees were not established on the basis of specific proposals or plans to alter the boundaries. The purpose of the committee in each case was to undertake an objective review of the issue and, in the event that there was a recommendation that the boundary be altered, to provide in its report relevant details in that regard and supporting information.

The main rationale for undertaking the boundary reviews is that in each case there is a significant overspill of population into another county based on the statistics reported in the 2011 census.In the case of Drogheda, the town has expanded into County Meath, with a population of 5,983 reported as located in the latter at the 2011 census, which equates to nearly 16% of the total town and environs population of 38,578 citizens. As the Senator noted, that has since increased considerably and the latest census figures will soon be available for 2016.

The boundary committees were due to submit their reports by the end of March 2016 but these have been delayed due, in part, to the volume of submissions received as part of the public consultation processes, and also in view of the fact the committees considered that further work was required in order to complete the reviews. Accordingly, the reviews are continuing, with an anticipated date for submission of the committees’ reports being within the next few weeks. As the committees are, by law, independent in the performance of their functions, it is not appropriate to comment further on the matter in advance of their reports. Needless to say, careful consideration will be given to the committee reports when they are submitted.

As members will be aware, the Government programme provides that, by mid-2017, a report will be prepared for the Government and the Oireachtas on potential measures to boost local government leadership and accountability and to ensure that local government structures and responsibilities strengthen local democracy. It is envisaged that any matters arising from the boundary committee reports will be addressed in the context of the preparation of that report.

Gerald Nash (Labour)
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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.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I want to acknowledge the strong feelings of Senator Nash on this issue, which I know are heartfelt in regard to what is best for Drogheda and its citizens. I will certainly convey that to the Minister. I also note the Senator's suspicions, although I perhaps do not agree with them, and I will inform the Minister of these. I will ask that a debate take place before a decision is made on foot of the receipt by the Minister of the independent review in regard to the boundaries in Drogheda and the other areas listed.

The Senator commented on the inability to make tough decisions. As he knows, we now have consensus politics within the Oireachtas. We have a minority Government and no decisions can be made without the agreement of the Oireachtas. If legislation has to be enacted in regard to this or any other decision, that has to be agreed by consensus.

I acknowledge the Senator's heartfelt views in regard to what is best for Drogheda. I have some experience of this, given a report was published recently in regard to the amalgamation of Galway city and county, and I was surprised to see some councillors rejecting the report even though they could not possibly have read it - they were out of the traps quicker than an e-mail could be sent. I am sure they have their own heartfelt views as well. I will certainly convey Senator Nash's views to the Minister, Deputy Coveney.