Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he is taking to help grow the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30131/24]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister will be well aware of the DCU and University of Ulster report that outlined not just the challenges, of which there were loads, but also the potential for the development of the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor. I would welcome an update from him on the work of his own Department in this regard. If I could be a small bit parochial relating to himself and myself, I would be grateful if he could concentrate on that area around Fingal specifically, if he can. I am also interested in the project itself as a whole.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. The national planning framework, NPF, published in 2018, sets out a vision and strategy for the spatial development of Ireland to 2040. National policy objective 44 of the NPF specifically commits to further supporting and developing the economic potential of the Dublin-Belfast corridor, in particular the core Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry network, and to promote and enhance its international visibility in co-operation with the relevant departments in Northern Ireland. The draft revised NPF published on 10 July has undergone a nine-week public consultation process and it is envisaged that the final revised NPF will be published in October. That is an important document.

Speaking of Fingal specifically, which I am more than happy to do, we are in a major growth area. We are the youngest area in the country. We need to ensure that we continue to attract inward investment and domestic investment, and that our infrastructure keeps pace with that growth. That is why measures such as DART+ are crucially important, and DART+ coastal north in particular, which will improve the frequency of services along the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor to the regional growth centre of Drogheda. I visited Drogheda earlier this week, and we discussed at length here what can be done in the Drogheda area in particular. I know that is something the Deputy will support.

MetroLink is crucially important too. It is in planning, it needs to happen and it will serve multiple residential communities and major employment zones, education, transport and other facilities, including DCU, which is our local university, and the wider area. In addition, the recommendations of the all-island rail review, which was published in July, include the upgrading of the core intercity rail network, including the rail line between Dublin and Belfast to allow speeds of up to 200 km/h. We were talking about public transport as well. The increase in capacity and frequency on that route is crucially important, and our airport and its development is also crucially important. I will come back on the rest in supplementary replies.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. Specifically, I am interested in knowing the work of the Minister's Department. I appreciate his response but a lot of that was focused on how people get out of Fingal by train and other public transport. I would appreciate if he could focus on how people can stay, and specific actions from his Department with regard to growing. What that report identified was huge potential right along that economic corridor. I appreciate the work in Drogheda, and it is something we are supportive of.

However, let us even look at a small business like Java the Hut in Balbriggan. When Marc Hynes was given the premises, that created local employment. He has his own roastery there now and he is doing really well. That is a couple of people taken off the train in the morning, which takes the pressure off the northern commuter line. The Minister will not be unaware of the issues that are currently plaguing commuters. When I was looking into this, I could not find any information regarding up-to-date plan. When I go to the website, it refers me to a Twitter account, and the Twitter account is no longer active. I wonder if there are any updates from the Minister's Department.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Specifically on Fingal and Balbriggan, we can look at what our Department has done with funding under the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF. We will use Balbriggan again as an example of very significant investment to improve the public realm, purchase vacant properties, open up Dublin Street, the quay, the harbour and all of that, and that work has been transformative. We want to support, and we are supporting, those smaller indigenous business.

The NPF is really important on the basis that it will drive future development, particularly with regard to population targets and growth. I want to see transport-orientated development as well, and that is why I have made specific reference to road, rail and airports. They are important from an investment perspective. I would see further investment through the URDF.

We have a fourth call that is being prepared. That has worked really well. I know there is preparation in Swords. I am being very parochial with regard to Fingal. Deputy O'Reilly is a Fingal Deputy too. Work is ongoing in other areas too, including Rusk and Lusk, with the town centre-first approach there. We are a major growth area. I expect in the national planning framework revision that the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor will remain a major economic driver. We want people to stay and live there too. I will come back in a supplementary.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister hit the nail on the head. That is the point I was making. We want people to be able to stay there. The vast majority of people in Balbriggan who are of working age and employed leave. They leave in the morning to go to work. They are not employed locally. There is an issue with underemployment that the Minister will be aware of. Even the report refers to towns like Balbriggan, Rush and Lusk, and my own town of Skerries, as commuter towns. That irks me a little because it makes them sound like places where people go to sleep, but there are actually living, breathing, thriving communities there. A little more inward investment is needed. It is unfortunate that the Government did not put in place more robust access to remote working for people, because that would have driven much growth of hubs locally. They are somewhat underutilised. I welcome the engagement. Transport-driven initiatives are important but we also need to look at those initiatives which mean that people do not need to access public transport and can walk or cycle to work.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Fingal is a major employment zone too. Taking the airport as an example, 25,000 people are directly employed on-campus, with about 120,000 indirect jobs in that area. That is how important the airport industrial and economic zone is. Certainly, regarding remote working, specifically for Fingal, last year the local government division of my Department last year allocated €150,000 in funding for a Fingal County Council project relating to sectoral enterprise hubs in this exact area that we are discussing. There are large business towns like Swords and coastal towns as well. We have a large horticultural and food sector too. It is an attractive area not only for Irish investment but for international investment too. I will continue to work with stakeholders and people there to ensure that there are more opportunities. We have pretty much full employment in our economy right now, with 2.75 million people working in the economy due to the economic policies that this Government has pursued and the hard work of our people.