Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 843: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress in implementing the national spatial strategy as far as County Monaghan is concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19307/05]

Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 844: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress in implementing the national spatial strategy for County Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19308/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 843 and 844 together.

The national spatial strategy, NSS, aims to achieve a better balance of social, economic and physical development across Ireland, supported by more effective planning. The NSS will be implemented over a 20-year timeframe up to 2020.

The Government has put a wide range of measures in place at national, regional and local levels to implement the NSS, and achieve its objectives over its 20-year timeframe. During the initial phases of NSS implementation, strong emphasis was placed on the preparation and adoption by all regional authorities of regional planning guidelines to elaborate how policies set out in the NSS should be developed in more detail and implemented in different regions, including the Border region of which Cavan and Monaghan are a part. The regional planning guidelines for the Border region were adopted in May 2004.

My Department subsequently issued best practice guidance on the arrangements for implementing the regional planning guidelines, including the question of transposing the policy objectives contained in the regional planning guidelines into local authority development plans. Arrangements have also been made for the establishment of an implementation group within the Border region for the regional planning guidelines to sustain and further develop the shared vision of the region's development potential as set out in the guidelines, to monitor investments within the region in the infrastructural projects identified as priorities, to establish a shared database in relation to development patterns in the region and to assist the regional authority in monitoring and reporting on overall implementation of the RPG's, with an eye to any future review of the RPG's.

It is understood that reviews of the Monaghan county, Monaghan town and Cavan town and environs development plans are now under way. These reviews will take account in particular of Monaghan and Cavan towns designation in the NSS as hubs to build the critical mass necessary to lead the drive towards a more balanced spread of enterprise, tourism, service and other economic and social development supported by key investments by the public and private sectors.