Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 560: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the measures used by him in measuring progress in respect of new gateway towns (details supplied); the progress made since the special strategy 2002 on the measures for which he has data for each of these towns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25328/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The National Development Plan (NDP) 2000-2006 identified the five cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford as existing gateways to be key regional growth centres for future regional investment and development. In addition, the NDP recommended the preparation of a national spatial strategy to inform future investment decisions, secure more balanced regional development and facilitate sustainable development in economic, social and environmental terms. The National Spatial Strategy (NSS) 2002-2020 identified these existing gateways together with a further four new national level gateways of Sligo, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Athlone/Tullamore/Mullingar as strategically located gateway cities and towns to act as economic drivers for their wider regions, and nine hub towns to link those gateway regions.

Since the launch of the NSS in 2002 a significant and diverse range of implementation measures have been undertaken, including the establishment of NSS implementation structures, the adoption in 2004 of Regional Planning Guidelines (RPGs) and alignment during 2005 and 2006 of all City and County Development Plans with the RPGs ensuring a hierarchy of consistent plans are in place ranging from national to local level. This integrated planning framework sets a critical context within which more specific NSS implementation activities can take place.

My Department has undertaken and commissioned extensive research to support the development of the NSS Gateways and Hubs, and has published two studies that comprehensively set out development issues and investment priorities in each of these locations. The two reports, the Gateway Investment Priorities Study (2006) and the NSS Hubs — Development Issues and Challenges (2007), which are both available on my Department's website — www.environ.ie, provide detailed descriptions of the current status of each of the gateways and hubs and the progress being made to accelerate their growth, identify development issues and challenges associated with these strategic locations and make recommendations to support and advance their future growth. These findings and key recommendations are now being prioritised in the development plans for these cities and towns.

In addition the National Development Plan 2007-2013 attaches a high priority to more balanced regional development and to securing progress on the various infrastructure projects identified as essential to enhance the competitiveness of the Gateways informed by the Gateway Investment Priorities Study.

In tandem with the NDP annual reporting and monitoring, an NSS monitoring framework is being developed to identify how investments are being prioritised and to assess how well the NSS is working in practice, both in terms of policy alignment and key outputs achieved.