A NEW study of commuter towns in Leinster starts today when members of a joint Oireachtas committee will travel to Athy, Co Kildare, to assess the town’s potential for development.
Members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment will examine problems facing inhabitants of commuter towns in the province during a series of visits also to towns including Mullingar, Balbriggan, Carlow, Drogheda, Gorey, Naas and Navan. The delegation intends to evaluate how towns in the Dublin commuter-belt zone have dealt with common challenges facing them in promoting economic growth, local enterprise and trade.
The committee, which is chaired by the Longford-Westmeath Labour Party TD Willie Penrose, will also assess what can be done in the areas to provide extra employment and attract people to work in the locality rather than undertaking a long journey to work every day.
The delegation will meet representatives from the local authority, Enterprise Ireland, employment agency Fás and the local chamber of commerce among others, for what Mr Penrose described as “comprehensive” and “intense” talks.
Mr Penrose said there were significant problems in many commuter areas where quality of life was being eroded as people were compelled to travel to find work.
“The idea is that we will ascertain what factors they see as inhibiting growth and what impact these have had on the towns’ ability to make progress,” he said.
“It is about examining barriers and taking notes of what has contributed to successes in these towns. We will also examine, first hand, why there is a failure to make progress and why we cannot have employment and why people have to commute to Dublin from those areas.”
The delegation will also visit a site of local interest to ascertain whether the local planning authorities are developing a plan that is restrictive or helpful to businesses or industries looking to move to that area.
“We’re not looking to say what they are doing is right or wrong, but we want to see why if a policy can work in one commuter town, could it be put in place elsewhere,” Mr Penrose said.
Once the visits are completed, the committee will return to Leinster House and complete a report on their findings in the various areas, which will be then be forwarded to relevant Government departments in an attempt to bring about changes in the localities.
This is the second such project to be undertaken by the committee, which earlier this year examined similar issues in the southwest of Ireland.
Mr Penrose said he expected more areas to be examined at a later date and that the report commissioned by the committee could bring about positive change.
“This is a powerful committee with a wide remit and issues we find will be brought to the relevant departments. We expect that if we bring proposals, they will be acted on,” he said.
