Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding what Senator Cummins said, and he is right, it has been a very interesting debate. I acknowledge in particular the contributions of Senator Higgins in respect of the national planning statement and her assertion that it represents another layer within the system. For half a day last week and over a number of months, the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I, as rapporteur, have been discussing the impact on the local authority and planning systems and the delivery of same. In an ever urbanised Ireland, it is only right that the infrastructural and housing development policies of Government would align with the very essence of where people are going to live. There should be an alignment between all layers of Government and if anything, it has a been criticism of Governments over decades in this country that there has not been such. Communities have been left deficient in what they require because there have not been the types of statements, policies and alignments that create consistency across all arms of Government. In many ways we have failed our population by not having them. Through national planning statements and through alignments between the national development plan and our national planning statements vis-à-vis where people will live, we can get to a scenario where the best services are provided for people where they need them.

Last week, during the debate on the future of local government, we discussed the impact of the OPR and so forth. I was a councillor for 17 years prior to any of these procedures coming into place and I saw the stagnation of growth in certain areas because of over-zoning in some instances. As I said, some people would have zoned a lake if they could have got away with it. Not having that hierarchy and that system meant that large urban centres were not growing to the capacity needed to justify the development of infrastructure on a large-scale capital basis. I refer, for example, to the restoration of the Navan rail line, a €1 billion project that is now being advanced by the Government because the centralisation, urbanisation and level of development that we need is being achieved through the new rules that have been brought in. When we discuss these things, one would think they were going to have only negative consequences for this country and its population but I would offer a different opinion. In fact, they will offer a chance for the population to realise what they are entitled to, which is good services, proper planning and the proper creation of communities in a manner that actually aligns with where things should be built.

In the context of that debate, we should acknowledge that. I would say that, respectfully, through the Chair, to Senator Higgins. I accept the contentions the Senator is making but the modus operandihere is that you deliver for people, not thwart them.