Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2006
123 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the framework for joint action in implementing the cross border aspects of the National Spatial Strategy and its equivalent in Northern Ireland, the Regional Development Strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42559/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are many complementary elements within the National Spatial Strategy and its equivalent in Northern Ireland — the Regional Development Strategy. These include the recognition of the attractiveness for inward investment of the Dublin-Belfast corridor and the role of the Letterkenny-Derry gateway as a driver for the wider northwest region. Both Governments have been actively supporting ongoing capital investments and spatial planning initiatives to implement those complementary and interdependent elements of both spatial strategies such as the M1-A1 road link, the Newry-Dundalk Twin City Initiative and the Northwest Gateway Initiative.
Recognising that there is further potential to strengthen co-operation in implementing both spatial strategies on the island, my Department, working in conjunction with the Department of Regional Development in Northern Ireland, is preparing a non-statutory framework for collaborative action on spatial policy between the National Spatial Strategy and the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland. This was endorsed by the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and was announced in a joint communiqué following the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference last May.
The aim of the collaborative framework is to facilitate strategic, forward-looking spatial planning and appropriate investment in infrastructure which will help to create enhanced, globally competitive and dynamic economic conditions on the island of Ireland.
To support the development of the collaborative framework, InterTrade Ireland commissioned the International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD) to carry out a study aimed at identifying the best means of taking the project forward. ICLRD is a consortium involving NUI Maynooth, the University of Ulster and Harvard College. The study, titled Spatial Strategies for the Island of Ireland towards a Collaborative Approach, was formally launched at a conference in Newry on 9 November.
It is intended that a draft report on the collaborative framework will be ready for consideration by the two Governments shortly.
