Ireland needs a national spatial strategy which will halt population decline, create jobs and assist the regions to compete on an equal footing with the rest of the country, according to Mr Ciaran Cuffe, a Green Party councillor.
The party spokesman on planning has called on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, to stop postponing the publication of the country's spatial strategy.
"What is Minister Dempsey afraid of? The report's recommendations should be made public so that the regions know where they stand," he said, and emphasised the Green Party's commitment to balanced regional development.
He said people were tired of spending up to three hours a day commuting to Dublin as they could not afford a home there.
"This takes its toll on family life and takes its toll on communities that are fast becoming dormitory commuting towns to serve the needs of Dublin." He said the Green Party would ensure that under-used State lands would be made available to Irish people for housing.
On one-off houses in the countryside, the party pledges a moratorium on them until the full costs are studied. Mr Cuffe also claimed prime agricultural land was being rezoned for all the wrong reasons.
He said the Greens were committed to undoing the bad planning decisions made in Dublin in the last decade, "because money changed hands in Dublin County Council. From families left stranded without a decent bus service to long lines of traffic every morning, it is ordinary families that are suffering."
His party hoped to end single-use zoning policies which he said stifled initiative and left vast industrial areas empty.