Metro planning and city development
Humphreys then shifted to concern about major rail lines and the need for proper planning, cost-benefit analysis, and mixed city-centre living rather than engineer-led development. The exchange remained on that metro/planning issue.
The Parkinson's Association of Ireland has 12,000 members who receive no State support. We heard heart-moving stories yesterday, especially from Gary, a young man suffering from Parkinson's disease, who said support from the HSE has been excellent and that support has helped him to live a fuller life. Certainly, there is a need for practice nurses and for support workers with regard to the Parkinson's Association and I would like to see Members having that debate soon after Easter.
I wish to raise another matter that was raised earlier by Senator McDowell on a very important point. It is with regard to the planning of cities and towns. We have failed miserably in this regard. We have development plans and a planning department but more and more, it is engineers who are tearing up and ripping up our city. MetroLink is very welcome and it is needed. An underground system is needed in our city.
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However, we need proper planning and a cost-benefit analysis. Putting massive rail lines through communities such as Rathmines and Ranelagh, where they may not be needed, is probably the wrong way to go. I am very concerned that engineers are planning our cities. We wish to see a city of villages and living, breathing communities, for which we need proper planning, whereby people of all wealth status can live side by side, and the person working in a hotel or restaurant, as well as the millionaire, has an opportunity to live in the city centre. At present, in Dublin city 9% of the country's GDP is generated and develops within four square miles with very little planning. While we have engineers, we have very few planners. We really need a strong debate with regard to planning in our villages and towns, because we have seen our villages, towns and cities hollowed out from being living, breathing communities. This echoes from Cork to Dublin to Limerick to Mallow. We need proper planning and it is long due time we had that debate. We need to debate this before we pour billions of euro into the MetroLink. We need a debate with the Minister, Deputy Ross, in the House to let him explain his proposals.