Vol. 573 No. 3
705 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the changes that have been made in his Department's plans, programmes, policies and spending arising from the publication of the Government's national spatial strategy. [25445/03]
A wide range of measures have been put in place at national, regional and local level to implement the national spatial strategy, which is a 20 year planning framework designed to enable every part of the country to achieve its potential.
In adopting the NSS, the Government decided that the strategy will be an important factor in the prioritisation of capital investment, and in the allocation of sectoral investment, which in the case of my Department includes investment in water services, non-national roads and social housing provision. My Department's expenditure programmes will support the implementation of the strategy over its 20-year life. More specifically under a circular letter issued recently, local authorities were advised that in addition to compliance with previous eligibility requirements, projects being proposed for funding in 2004 out of the EU co-financed scheme of grants for improvement works on non-national roads had also to facilitate the implementation of the national spatial strategy and, in particular, had to contribute to improved accessibility to the gateways, hubs and other centres identified in the strategy. Similarly, local authorities have also been asked in their assessment of needs under the water services investment programme to identify any outstanding water services requirements necessary to give effect to the objectives of the NSS.
