Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach agus an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to listen to this today.

As someone born and raised in Drogheda, I speak not only as a Senator here today but as a proud daughter of a place that has outgrown the soubriquet of Ireland's largest town and now needs to be made Ireland's next city.For far too long Drogheda has been spoken about as though it were still a provincial town on the edge of Dublin. That really does not reflect reality. It has a population in excess of 50,000, but combined with its natural hinterland in east Meath we are talking about a population of about 80,000. Drogheda is already larger than the city of Waterford and is close to overtaking Galway and Limerick within a decade based on current growth trends, yet it still does not have city status or a single local authority.

In 2014, during the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition, Drogheda lost its borough council and, with it, meaningful local decision-making. That was a turning point. From that moment on, Drogheda began to grow rapidly but its ability to plan and manage that growth was taken away. We now find ourselves governed by two local authorities, Louth County Council and Meath County Council, from two distant towns. That division is failing the people I represent where I live. We are falling between the two proverbial stools because we have two councils and two development plans, but one urban population with no unified strategy. It is entirely unsustainable. The consequences are felt every day by people living there, by businesses and by workers. Parents cannot find school places for their children, not only at secondary school level but also increasingly at primary level. The young couples who are buying the many houses that we are building in new estates expect basic public transport, but buses are overcrowded and the rail service is beyond capacity. A second railway station, on the north side of the town, is now imperative. Workers commuting from Drogheda face daily gridlock on local roads that were never designed for the scale of development that we are now seeing in our town, which is soon to be a city. GP practices are full, waiting lists are growing, and sports clubs and community groups are squeezed to breaking point because facilities have not kept pace with population growth.

This is what happens when an area grows like a city but is governed like a small town. Despite this, Drogheda has not given up. In recent months, we have seen real progress. Millions of euro have been secured for town centre regeneration. The living city initiative has finally been extended to Drogheda to unlock the vital investment we need and to restore life into our heritage buildings, which I hope the Minister of State will see next month. The port access northern cross route is opening new potential for expansion and jobs on the north side. This is the vision in Drogheda. There is ambition and there is real momentum but we cannot deliver long-term progress while trapped in the wrong governance structure. If we are serious about balanced regional development, we must recognise that Drogheda’s role is the future of this country. We stand on the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor, which is the most strategically important growth axis on this island. If Ireland is to develop sustainably, it needs strong cities beyond Dublin and Drogheda is poised to be one of those.

City status is not about prestige; it is about planning, proper investment and accountability. It needs a single authority with responsibility for housing, infrastructure, transport, education, planning and economic development. This means fair funding, including access to urban regeneration funding for schemes like the West Gate vision we have coming down the road. It means a governance model that matches the scale of the population it serves. Therefore, I am proposing that the Government establish a Drogheda city status task force to produce a road map to full city status within 12 months. It must be cross-departmental, must engage with both local authorities and must be driven by facts, not political hesitation. It is time to give Ireland’s largest town the status, structure and support it needs. It is time to make Drogheda the country’s next city.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for the way she articulated the case for Drogheda to become a city. Clearly it is her home town - or city - and she is very proud of it. This came across incredibly well. She is proud of the progress that it has made but she has also identified some challenges which she sees city status as a key way of overcoming. I will outline the Department’s position and rationale, as well as some opportunities for future discussions.

Project Ireland 2040 is the overarching planning and investment framework for the social, economic and cultural development of Ireland. The national planning framework, NPF, together with the 2021 national development plan, NDP, combine to form Project Ireland 2040. The NPF sets out a vision and strategy for the spatial development of Ireland to 2040. It recognises the strategic importance of Drogheda. It aims to support its development and its economic potential as part of the Dublin-Belfast corridor, which the Senator referenced, and, in particular, as part of the core Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry network. This strategy targets significant growth into the regional growth centres, including Drogheda, to enable them to act as regional drivers.The revised NPF was approved by Government and the Oireachtas in April 2025. This concluded the revision process and allows the revised NPF to take effect in the planning system. The NPF aims for a roughly 50:50 distribution of growth between the eastern and midland region, and the southern, northern and western regions combined, with 75% of the growth to take place outside of Dublin and its suburbs. The revised NPF retains the strategy approach to Drogheda in relation to its role as a regional driver. Drogheda's role is also reflected at a regional level in the regional, spatial and economic strategy for the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly area.

Local authority areas are specified in primary legislation. The Local Government Act 2001 currently provides for three cities, namely Cork, Dublin and Galway, and for each of these cities to have a city council. If an additional city council were to be established, it would have significant implications for the county in which the area concerned is situated, particularly around loss of functions of the relevant county council. Creation of a Drogheda city local authority would have a major impact on County Louth, leaving the county council with much reduced territorial jurisdiction, population and resources. This would be further complicated by the fact that the area being proposed for Drogheda to qualify as a city includes part of County Meath. For a city council to be established, provision will have to be made for this and other consequential matters in the relevant legislation. At the moment, there are no plans for legislation in this regard.

We need to be clear what exactly the Senator is looking for. I can see the complications in terms of a separate local authority for Drogheda and how it impacts County Louth and that local authority. I have seen a similar situation happen in County Cork where the city boundary expanded, and it had a detrimental impact on the county. However, there is precedence where city and county councils are merged, like in Limerick and Waterford. It is important that we learn from the experience there. Is it the local authority element of the city recognition that the Senator is looking for or is it the potential to give status to Drogheda, similar to Kilkenny city, which also has city status, but to keep working within Louth council local authority? There is potential for discussion on the future of Drogheda, and we might develop that further.

Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for that response, even if it is not exactly the one I was looking for. At the same time this is a wider discussion that needs to be had. We know that it will take legislation and the Minister of State mentioned some of the precedents with Limerick City and County Council and Cork City Council, and Dublin County Council being divided into the three local authorities of Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. There are examples. We are not looking for a precedent to be set, but at the same time we have a huge and burgeoning demographic. We are looking at 7,500 new houses, which brings 25,000 in new population to this area, and we do not have our own local governance. We are being governed from north of the county and from Navan, which is far away from east Meath and south Louth. We need to look, as the Minister of State mentioned, at a wider discussion of how this will be looked at going forward. The current situation cannot stand, and I noticed in the programme for Government that we are keen to get local government back on our books and maybe look at a borough council, town council, town manager or city manager for Drogheda.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator is right that the establishment of a local authority is primary legislation. However, the recognition of somewhere as a city is different. That has been done through charters and by different methods over the centuries. To back up the Senator's point, the CSO will define a city as having a population over 50,000. Drogheda ticks that box. Kilkenny only has a population of 27,000. My view is that there is definitely merit in the recognition of a city. I think the separate local authority creates far more complications. A local democracy task force is being established by the Minister, Deputy Browne. I assume that will look at things like bringing back town councils. The Senator correctly alluded to the fact that town councils were done away with. In my view that was a retrograde step for many of our towns, including my own town of Clonakilty. I assume the task force will look at that. Perhaps, Drogheda's status as a city could also be looked at in that process. It is certainly something I will bring to the senior Minister.

Imelda Goldsboro (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome guests of Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh and members of the Straide Women's Group. I also welcome guests of former Deputy John Paul Phelan and of Deputy Matt Carthy. We hope they enjoy their visit.