Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Jun 2000

Vol. 522 No. 4

Written Answers. - National Spatial Strategy.

Proinsias De Rossa

Question:

24 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the progress made to date in regard to preparations for the national spatial strategy; when it is expected that the strategy will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18646/00]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

Substantial progress has been made on the mandate given by the Government to my Department to prepare a national spatial strategy which will translate the overall approach to regional development contained in the national development plan into a more detailed framework for spatial development in Ireland over the next 20 years.

On foot of that mandate, my Department established a spatial planning unit to manage the preparation of the strategy. An interdepartmental steering committee, with representation from all relevant Departments, established to oversee the development of the strategy at policy level, has met on a number of occasions. The interdepartmental committee is supported by a technical working group and subgroups to facilitate a co-ordinated input to the preparation of the strategy from Departments, State agencies, regional assemblies and all other bodies whose policies, functions or operations are relevant to the achieving the objective of more balanced regional development.

In addition, I have established an expert advisory group which Mr. Kieran McGowan, former head of the IDA, has agreed to chair. This group provides a vehicle for my Department to call on the expertise and experience of leading national and international figures in the area of spatial development and planning.

The national spatial strategy will be prepared in four stages. During the first stage of the process, which is now complete, extensive efforts were made to reach a degree of consensus on the scope, structure and approach to the preparation of the national spatial strategy. To facilitate this part of the process, a discussion document, The National Spatial Strategy – What are the Issues? was published by my Department and disseminated widely. This document provoked a substantial response from a wide range of national and local groups and from individual members of the public. Taking account of these submissions and inputs from various Departments and State agencies a report entitled, The National Spatial Strategy – Scope and Delivery, was published last month. This report sets out the background to the strategy, identifies its objectives and the challenges it faces to achieves those objectives, gives details of the work to be carried out during each stage of the process of preparing the strategy, sets out the organisational structures which have been put in place and the arrangements which have been made for the participation of relevant interests and the public generally in the process. A copy of this report has been circulated to all Members of the House.

Stage two of the process of preparing the strategy will require extensive research, to be completed by next October, into the spatial structure and functioning of Ireland under a number of different headings. External consultants will assist with a number of these research projects. This research will include in-depth analysis into such areas as population and labour force projections and future housing demand broken down on a regionalised basis, the future role of Dublin in Ireland and Europe, urban and rural functioning, enterprise development, quality of life issues, transport infrastructure, energy, educational access, environmental protection and availability of services.

The research and analysis phase of preparing the strategy will be followed by the preparation of policy option papers which will be the subject of a further broad-based consultative process to conclude by April of next year. The final stage during the latter half of next year will see the drawing together and reconciliation of the emerging strands of policy and drafting of the strategy itself with a view to its adoption by the Government and publication by the end of 2001.