Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress to date on the National Spatial Strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42541/06]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress to date on the National Spatial Strategy; the results of the gateways priorities study; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42558/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 99 together.

At national level substantial progress is being made in implementing the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), which is having an increasing influence on policies and programmes across a range of Government Departments and agencies.

At regional level, a key policy bridge between national development priorities and local planning has been put in place with the adoption of Regional Planning Guidelines to provide a strategic framework for local planning.

At county and city level, strategic land use and planning frameworks for all the Gateways are almost complete. The potential impact of the Strategy in terms of achieving more balanced regional development has been underscored by the Government's decision in July 2005 that the regional dimension of the next National Development Plan, now in preparation, will be broadly based on the NSS. The priorities of the NSS and regional planning guidelines have also been recognised in the Government's 10-year investment plan for transport, Transport 21.

To support the development of the NSS Gateways, my Department in conjunction with Forfás, commissioned the Gateway Investment Priorities Study. This study has been completed and was jointly published on my Department's and Forfás's websites in October of this year. The study addresses the Gateway's potential for accelerated development in housing, commercial and employment terms and the key infrastructure priorities that will be necessary to facilitate such development. The study sets out relevant issues in each Gateway, such as economic infrastructure, enterprise and economy, quality of life and local capacity. It identifies short-term and long-term investment priorities for each of the Gateways and proposes mechanisms through which these can feed into the next NDP and other national policies and programmes. Similar work is also being undertaken in relation to the hubs identified in the NSS.

In addition, I launched the Atlantic Gateways Initiative in September 2006; this is aimed at having Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford collaboratively creating a critical mass for future economic development as a counter-balance to Dublin and the East. The report, with recommended actions and timescales, explores how the four gateways can become an increasingly interconnected and developed network of co-operating and complementary cities. This can, in turn, enhance the development potential of all four gateways and invigorate development in the hub towns and the wider urban and rural catchment areas.

Draft Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Development Plans were published for public consultation last April. These Guidelines emphasise the importance within such plans of creating a clear strategic framework for the proper planning and sustainable development of the relevant area consistent with the longer-term aims set out in the National Spatial Strategy and regional planning guidelines. Comments on the Draft Guidelines are currently being considered by my Department with a view to finalising the Guidelines in the near future.

My Department, in co-operation with other relevant Departments, is also pursuing measures to enhance cooperation on spatial planning and infrastructural investment across the island of Ireland, as endorsed by the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. As announced following a meeting of the Conference on 2 May, my Department, working in conjunction with the Department of Regional Development in Northern Ireland, is preparing a framework for collaborative action between the NSS and the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland to assist in creating conditions that will facilitate enhanced competitiveness on the island.