Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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26. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of meetings that have taken place between his departmental officials working on the national planning framework and corresponding departmental officials in Government Departments in Northern Ireland detailing the number of meetings, the date on which they took place and the matters discussed; and if he will provide a list any future scheduled meetings of this kind. [35448/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department keeps in regular contact with the relevant Departments and agencies in Northern Ireland on planning matters. Furthermore, recognising the importance of cross-border co-operation on strategic planning and development matters, my Department, together with the former Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland, has previously published a document entitled the Framework for Co-operation: Spatial Strategies of Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland.

This Framework for Co-operation on Spatial Planning  provides a broad context for interaction between Ireland and Northern Ireland on strategic planning matters, which is now being progressed by the new Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure. In this context, officials from my Department and the corresponding Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland met in Dublin last week to review progress in both the implementation of the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland and the ongoing development of the new National Planning Framework, which is intended to be published in draft form by March 2017.

The two Departments discussed opportunities to co-ordinate and align infrastructure provision that would be of mutual interest as well as common spatial issues and priorities, including balanced regional development, regional economic development and the functional reach of settlements across administrative boundaries. Both Departments agreed on technical working and information sharing arrangements to carry forward these considerations, with further meetings to take place as required.