Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his view on the recent report of the Urban Forum on the urban sprawl of Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7405/07]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 140: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the action he will take to increase population density here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7403/07]

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the rate of urban sprawl in Irish cities, as outlined in the report by the Urban Forum (details supplied), which predicts that Dublin will soon have the same geographical footprint as Los Angeles despite only having one quarter of its population; the measures he has taken to alleviate this condition in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7472/07]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on whether his Department has a role in reducing the carbon footprint of cities here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7404/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 104, 140, 159 and 178 together.

A broad range of policies and measures is being implemented to address pressures in the urban environs of Dublin and promote balanced regional development across the country. A key policy response has been the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), which was published in November 2002.

The NSS acknowledges that it is not sustainable for Dublin to continue to spread outwards into counties on its periphery and beyond, and that imbalanced development impacts on quality of life through, for example, long-distance commuting patterns and people living further away from where they work.

The NSS seeks to distribute the anticipated growth in population across all regions and to generate the economic and social benefits closer to where people live. The target is to consolidate the future growth of the capital through more compact development and to strengthen the other gateway cities to enable them to grow to their full potential and provide more spatially balanced patterns of development around the country.

Similarly, the Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area, prioritise the consolidation of development within the Metropolitan Area, allowing for the accommodation of a greater population than at present, together with a much-enhanced public transport system. Outside the Metropolitan Area, the concentration of development at key identified towns, with higher residential development densities, particularly in locations close to public transport corridors, will over time lead to a more compact urban form, relative to the size of population, and should reduce the growth in overall demand for travel.

Furthermore, to secure more balanced regional development across the western and southern parts of the island of Ireland, complementing the growth currently being experienced in the Greater Dublin Area and along the East Coast, the NSS recommends the development of an Atlantic Gateways corridor, linking the gateway cities of Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford, to create an inter-connected network of co-operating and complementary cities. The Atlantic Gateways Initiative report was published in September 2006 and its findings are being implemented.

The alignment of the recently published National Development Plan with the principles and objectives of the NSS, places the NSS at the heart of future investment decisions by Government Departments and Agencies. Furthermore, linking the NSS with other Government policies, such as Transport 21, enables future residential and commercial developments to be concentrated as close as possible to existing and forthcoming public transport systems.

My Department is also undertaking a review of the Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Residential Density to take account of changing population and settlement patterns and the extensive experience built up since the introduction of the 1999 guidelines in the design, assessment and development of higher density proposals.

I have noted that many of the policies and measures outlined by the Urban Forum in their recent paper, such as NSS alignment of NDP expenditure, implementation of the Regional Planning Guidelines and the Atlantic Gateways Initiative, are already being addressed by my Department. I am confident that the continuing implementation of these policies outlined above will have a positive influence on bringing about more compact urban design and sustainable development within the consolidated area of the capital into the future.