Vol. 557 No. 6
103 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the ever greater divergence of wealth between the regions; if he will readjust the national development plan to take account of this divergence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23055/02]
The Government remains committed to the NDP objective of more balanced regional development. Under the regionalisation agreement negotiated by the Government under Agenda 2000, significant benefits were conferred on the less developed Border, midlands and western regions, including an additional €595 million in structural funds assistance, a higher EU co-financing rate of 75% for individual projects and a more generous state aids regime which is of assistance in attracting increased investment. The Government is conscious of the infrastructure needs of the BMW region and will seek to address this through the NDP infrastructure programme and other measures. The Government is also conscious of the major bottlenecks and congestion affecting urban areas in the southern and eastern regions and addressing this situation must also be a major priority for resources available for investment in infrastructure. I anticipate that the mid-term review of the plan, to be completed next year, will address its impact on balanced regional development. The Government has recently approved the publication of the national spatial strategy and this will be launched by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government shortly. The national spatial strategy is a 20 year planning framework and it aims to achieve a better balance of social, economic, physical development and population growth between regions, with the objective of having a positive impact on balanced regional development.
