Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 February 2018
44. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the type of support he is providing to develop the Atlantic economic corridor; if he will report on the engagement with stakeholders regarding this initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8503/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI submitted this question to establish the type of support the Department is providing to develop the Atlantic economic corridor. Will the Minister report on engagement with stakeholders about this initiative?
I thank Deputy Carey for the question. A Programme for a Partnership Government and the Action Plan for Rural Development both commit to progressing the concept of the Atlantic economic corridor, AEC. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Ring, established the AEC task force in March 2017 to progress this proposal and I now chair this task force. The role of the task force is to provide strategic oversight and direction in developing the AEC concept, which was initially brought by local chambers of commerce along the west coast and the American Chamber of Commerce. A key objective of the task force is to ensure that the existing resources and skills within the region can be supported and assessed. The task force includes representatives from the business sector, key Departments and Government agencies, local authorities and third level institutions. It is the key mechanism for engaging with and building collaboration between stakeholders. Two subgroups of the task force are now in place, one considering infrastructural investment priorities and the other covering the issue of enterprise property capacity in the region. A third group, covering communications, has also been established. These task groups are composed of members of the task force itself and provide a more focused platform for consideration of key issues relating to the development of the AEC.
The Government's Project Ireland 2040 plan, published last Friday, fully supports the development of the AEC, which I welcome. It specifically highlights the contribution that the AEC can make to achieving the regional growth objectives of the national planning framework. In order to further support the AEC proposal, I have offered to co-fund the appointment of an AEC officer in each of the local authorities along the corridor. That will include the local authorities in Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway city and county, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo and Donegal. We have written to the chief executive officers, CEOs, and local authorities in that regard. This will provide a dedicated resource in each local authority to support the work of the AEC task force and its subgroups and to promote the AEC concept within each local authority area and across the region as a whole. I welcome the AEC initiative. We all know there is a great capacity in the west coast as a counterbalance to the Dublin region and it was welcome to see that that was key to the national planning framework and to Project Ireland 2040, published last Friday.
I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I support this initiative. It is doing wonderful work. The Minister of State has confirmed that he made an offer of €300,000 to co-fund the appointment of officers in each local authority along the western coast. What type of response has the Minister of State got back from the chief executives of the different local authorities? Will they get on board with this initiative and make those appointments? The Minister of State might inform the House in that regard.
We wrote to them in the last week or so. I know that the County and City Management Association, CCMA, has fully briefed the relevant CEOs over the last period and I am confident there will be buy-in. I know there will be buy-in. There have been preliminary discussions and we made a formal offer in the last week or so, so we expect positive responses from the local authorities over the next period. The work to date on developing the concept of the Atlantic economic corridor has been positive. The CCMA is represented on the AEC task force. We have had a number of meetings. The next will be within the next couple of weeks and will take place in Limerick. We have had work to do over the last while to get this into the mindset of local authority members, Departments, agencies and all bodies along the west coast that have involvement in developing and growing the job creation potential of the region, including the universities and institutes of technology. I believe that buy-in is happening and am confident that the CEOs of the local authorities in question will play their part and fully engage with this proposal.
