Mr. Paul Hogan:

I will not suggest the NPF is entirely responsible – it is a combination of things - but it has certainly played a part. Population growth in the east versus the rest of the country was 55% versus 45%, which is a big improvement on the excess of 60% we were seeing before that. Similarly, jobs growth was even stronger outside of Dublin and the east. It was just over 50% - about 52% - versus 48% in the rest of the country. That gap has been closed to an even greater extent. Partly that was down to things like the impacts of distributed home working, with people being able to work farther away and commute less frequently. However, in addition, the NPF as a strategy influenced bodies like Enterprise Ireland, the regional assemblies and the IDA in how they do their business and approach things. There is a greater emphasis on regional jobs growth. Ireland’s regions offer, as the Deputy suggested, that sort of uncongested pool of talent, particularly around the cities, and established FDI locations in places like Cork and Limerick. A difference is being made.

As I suggested, it has not happened overnight and it will not happen overnight. It will take some years to realise. We are looking at a 16-year horizon in terms of the final three quarters of a strategy that was set six years ago. We have a long way to go. As I said at the outset, the realisation is that it can work and make a difference, but it will take more time than we had anticipated, particularly when dealing with a dominant city-region like Dublin. We have had interest from all over Europe and beyond in the strategy, in particular, in how it is being linked horizontally across government to other Departments and how they do their business, the NDP, capital investment and also how it influences down the hierarchy as well. I am not suggesting this is finished or complete in any way, but it is making a difference.