I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to lay before each House of the Oireachtas an annual report on the progress of the document entitled “Project Ireland 2040” that was published by the Government on 18 January 2019, of which the constituent components are the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan, and for that purpose to amend and extend the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2020 and to provide for related matters.
The primary objective of this short Bill is to provide democratic accountability by holding the Government of the day to account on the delivery objectives of Project Ireland 2040. The Rural Independents believe this to be crucial given that Project Ireland 2040, which is a composite of the national development plan and the national planning framework, is the long-term overarching strategy to change how investment is made in public infrastructure. The Bill aims to give the Dáil an important input into the roll-out and delivery of Project Ireland 2040. From a policy and democratic standpoint, we believe that a policy which effectively dictates where people live, work, play and have access to all public services over the next 20 years is deserving of rigorous and honest scrutiny by this Dáil.
In short, the Bill represents the only way possible to ensure democratic accountability for Project Ireland 2040 objectives can be obtained. The Bill has been carefully drafted in conjunction with the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisor and has been cleared by the Bills Office and the Office of the Ceann Comhairle. I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his team and staff of the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisor.
The underlying objective of the Bill is to compel the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to prepare annually and lay before each House of the Oireachtas a report on the progress made in implementing Project Ireland 2040, the constituent components of which are the national planning framework and the national development plan.
The Bill seeks to improve transparency and accountability over the decisions, roll-out and delivery of Project Ireland 2040 to ensure that rural communities are not being left behind when it comes to the delivery of key infrastructural project and public services critical to their areas. The Bill also paves the way for an annual debate in Dáil Éireann that would allow Deputies to scrutinise and evaluate progress or otherwise. It also allows for democratic accountability over the Executive, including the Government and unelected officials, and the far-reaching policy objectives and funding allocations contained within Project Ireland 2040. We do not have any input and are shut out at present.
The Bill would effectively give Dáil Éireann a much greater input into rural and regional development. As matters stand, the Dáil has been completely sidelined when it comes to Project Ireland 2040, which means the people have been denied democratic input into the plan and its funding channels via their elected Deputies. That is surely not right. The Bill also places Project Ireland 2040 and its constituent components, the national planning framework and the national development plan, on a statutory footing.
Why is this Bill important now? There is an infrastructural gap and an urban-rural divide. It is predicted that by 2040, circa 1 million more people will be living in Ireland. This population growth will require hundreds of thousands of new jobs and homes, more cultural and social amenities, better regional connectivity and improved environmental sustainability. The national development plan sets out the strategic investment plan to achieve this. The Rural Independent Group is bringing forward this Bill in light of the sheer significance of this plan and the need to allow the Dáil and the public to have a meaningful input into these investment decisions on an annual basis. The annual level of capital expenditure in Ireland is currently just below €10 billion per annum, which is tracking the level of planned spending set out in Project Ireland 2040. However, there is still a large infrastructure gap in Ireland across a majority of sectors, including health, education, housing, public transport and infrastructure. In addition, rural Ireland is suffering from many years of chronic underinvestment. This requires significant capital investment in areas such as roads, public transport, broadband, energy, built environment, including water and sewerage schemes, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It also requires a commitment to facilitate local young people to build a home on their land in order to help stem rural depopulation. Importantly, the projects the Government is currently investing in under this plan will last for more than 50 years. We should be thinking of young people and the lives ahead of them. The plan offers a significant opportunity for a connected and integrated infrastructure that puts a focus on communities and creates a sustainable way of living and working in all parts of Ireland.
