Sir, – In your Editorial (“Development priorities”, June 27th), you call for long-term planning so as to provide for better social and economic balance at regional level. There is already a reasonable plan in place, in the shape of the National Spatial Strategy, which was launched with much fanfare in 2002. The failure lies in its implementation.
The plan establishes a number of regional “gateways” with the intention of focusing investment on these centres. However, in the case of at least two of the larger gateways this investment has not happened. According to research by Chris van Egeraat and Proinnsias Breathnach of NUI Maynooth: Waterford and Limerick cities “represented 8.8 per cent of all foreign employment in 2001, but attracted only 2.8 per cent of employment in new foreign firms while losing 40.5 per cent of their existing foreign employment”.
Now, instead of underpinning future investment in these cities by empowering and strengthening local administration, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan appears intent on abolishing their city councils and subsuming them into the neighbouring county councils. This will leave both cities without a voice of their own and without any authority tasked with maximising their potential as gateways. Inexplicably, Galway’s city council so far seems not to be under threat – are some gateways more equal than others? Of course savings need to be made at local government level, but any changes need to be consistent with the National Spatial Strategy.
Mr Hogan needs to explain how these changes fit in with the spatial strategy; otherwise he must go back to the drawing board and come up with plans that make sense in the long term. – Yours, etc,