Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 645: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the significant changes that have been implemented by his Department to date in 2005 in delivering the national spatial strategy; and the costs, benefits and savings that have accrued. [34088/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The national spatial strategy, NSS, is a 20 year strategic planning framework aimed at achieving more balanced regional development. Substantial progress has been made in implementing the strategy through relevant policies and programmes across a range of Departments and agencies, including my own Department. Multiannual capital envelope agreements which have been made between the Department of Finance and Departments responsible for capital expenditure, including mine, require Departments in reporting annually on capital expenditure under the agreements to demonstrate how investments and spending are being prioritised to implement the NSS. The Government has also decided that delivering on the NSS will be a priority objective of the next national development plan.

To support the development of the NSS gateways, a major study of their potential for accelerated development and the key infrastructure priorities that will be necessary to facilitate such development is nearing completion. Work on a feasibility study to further develop an Atlantic gateways initiative seeking to enhance linkages and networking between Cork, Galway, Limerick-Shannon and Waterford is also nearing completion.

My Department is addressing the cross-Border aspects of the implementation of the NSS in conjunction with the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland. An ongoing research programme into different aspects of spatial trends in Ireland to support the formulation and implementation of spatial policy in my Department and across Departments has been put in place. Measures have also been put in place to ensure my Department's expenditure programmes support the implementation of the NSS. In this regard, for example, local authorities were asked in their assessment of needs which inform the selection of projects for approval under the water services investment programme to identify water services requirements necessary to give effect to the objectives of the NSS. This will be repeated when the next assessment is undertaken.

In the area of non-national roads, in addition to compliance with previous eligibility requirements, projects being proposed for funding out of the EU co-financed scheme of grants for improvement works on non-national roads were also required to show how they would facilitate the implementation of the NSS and, in particular, how they would contribute to improving accessibility to the gateways, hubs and other centres identified in the strategy. To ensure the NSS is taken into account in my Department's capital programme expenditure programmes, a cross-divisional team has been established to promote a co-ordinated approach to relevant activities in the areas of housing, environmental and water services infrastructure provision, local roads, urban and village and heritage programmes. My Department has not at this stage attempted to quantify specifically the costs, benefits or savings that have accrued from implementing the NSS.