Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2017
266. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if the national smart growth initiative will be funded under the existing capital plan 2016 to 2021 and under the capital plan post-2022; the amount of funding that will be available under the initiative; and the planned purpose of the initiative. [44380/17]
View answerThe draft National Planning Framework (NPF), titled Ireland 2040: Our Plan, was published at the end of September and is currently undergoing its final public consultation phase. The public consultation phase will conclude in early November, following which submissions will be reviewed with a view to finalising the Framework before the end of the year together with a 10-year national investment plan being progressed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. From the close cooperation between both Departments, I expect the long-term investment plan to include measures to promote the smart development principles outlined in the NPF.
The interaction and alignment between the NPF and the 10-year National Investment Plan is currently being refined and will also need to take account of the outputs from the ongoing public consultation on the NPF. In the meantime, my Department will be working to ensure that its capital allocations over the period 2018 to 2021 are deployed in a manner that supports and drives implementation of the NPF, especially as regards measures to consolidate and regenerate key parts of the urban fabric in our cities and towns and through capital investment in housing and water infrastructure, in particular.
