asked the Minister for Local Government if he has given consideration to the problem created by the rapid growth of the City of Dublin compared with the decline in the rural population and if any consideration has been given to plans for restricting the expansion of the capital and the more proportionate distribution of population; and, if so, with what result.
- Re-distribution of Population.
My direct concern with the distribution of population in Dublin and elsewhere is related to my responsibility for supervising the provision of houses by local authorities and by assisted private enterprise for those sections of the population needing rehousing and to the provision of other environmental services. I would also be responsible for considering any planning scheme which may be submitted by the Dublin Corporation for my approval under the Town and Regional Planning Acts.
As regards housing, the corporation's present programme is based on existing needs and is not affected by the possibility of further expansion of the city.
The rate of housing output throughout the remainder of the country approximates to that which has been reached in Dublin and I consider that the contributions to new housing which are being made by the rural and urban housing authorities outside Dublin should tend to encourage the local populations to remain in their own districts.
The planning authorities in Dublin City and County are exercising their powers of interim control under the Town and Regional Planning Acts to limit the growth of the city by restricting suburban extension to the inner limits of the green belt as recommended in the report on the Dublin sketch development plan.
The wider issues involved in the Deputy's question include policy on decentralisation of industry and other economic and social factors which are outside the scope of my Department's administration. In this connection, I should like to refer the Deputy to a reply given by the Taoiseach to a question on the 24th November, 1949, in which he stated that matters arising out of the excessive growth of Dublin were constantly borne in mind in the framing of the Government's social and economic measures.