A Better Place to Live and Work
Introduction
1.) Ireland is experiencing a vibrant period of very strong economic growth and development. All the real indicators tell the same story:
2.) This type of progress is necessary and welcome. However, it means that we should pay ever increasing attention to the quality of life, to the type of environment that is evolving, and to the inclusion of all citizens and communities in sustainable and balanced development of our country.
3.) GNP growth in aggregate is of little benefit if someone does not have the income, or the physical and social environment to enjoy its fruits.
4.) To achieve this, the right mix of political leadership and community involvement is vital.
5.) For example, improving the way transport is managed, dealing with traffic congestion, ensuring better quality of air and water, enhancing food safety, sensible waste management, protection of the country’s national heritage and amenities and balanced regional development – all of these have to be priorities.
6.) And there are dramatic opportunities in front of us to create a better framework for artistic development, to encourage wider participation in sport, to share our heritage and our natural environment with visitors from abroad, to renew our own culture in new, exciting ways.
7.) A high quality environment has long been part of Ireland’s national endowment. Indeed, the country’s green image has already given us a competitive advantage in a number of areas, food and tourism being notable examples. Changing settlement, socio-economic and lifestyle patterns, however, have altered the balance between environment and society in Ireland.
8.) The threat to our environment has been growing and the symptoms of environmental stress are becoming apparent: increasing water pollution, depletion of natural resources, waste production, damage to natural habitats and erosion of our landscapes are all symptomatic of this trend.
9.) It is now time to establish a sounder relationship between Ireland’s economy and environment. If this can be done successfully then the strong growth we now enjoy and seek to maintain will be environmentally sustainable.
10.) The fundamentals must be right. Sustainable development demands a new way of living and doing business, a new design of policies to guide future action, and to give reality to a new vision for Ireland.
Physical Planning
11.) The Labour Party has an unequalled record in standing up for the rights of local communities in the face of unjustified rezoning and bad planning.
12.) We believe the key to proper planning and development is the development plan. However, we recognise that the present development plan process has a number of major deficiencies. Many plans tend to be static, control-orientated documents rather than blueprints for the development of communities.
13.) Often, major concerns such as infra-structural development or provision of health or education services are simply not dealt with. Public participation in the process of drawing up and adopting development plans tends to be rigid and "top-down".
14.) Labour in Government will take the following steps:
15.) We will be recommending the following framework:
National
16.) The national plan will integrate physical planning with the development of national infrastructure such as roads and rail.
17.) The National Economic and Social Forum, following a process of consultation and research, will be asked to make recommendations to Government regarding Growth Centres for the country as a whole.
18.) The issue of the further growth of Dublin, together with the difficulty in maintaining population levels in rural Ireland, will be addressed.
19.) These recommendations will be assessed by Government as the basis for a National Development Plan.
Regional
20.) Regional plans will be drawn up by the Regional Authorities in consultation with community councils, roads authorities, CIE and its constituent companies, Telecom, IBEC, Trade Unions, Health Boards, Regional Education Authorities and VEC’s and other relevant interests.
21.) The plans will take account of land use policy, transport planning, industrial development, housing needs and population growth, tourism, forestry and agriculture. The plans must have regard to national growth centre policy.
Local
22.) Local plans will take account of local land use considerations, and incorporate proper planning and provision of services – including health, education, social services, local government services, shopping and recreational facilities.
23.) Plans at all three levels will incorporate sustainable development considerations.
24.) A new public consultation procedure for local plans will be devised which will include the following elements:
25.) In the reformed process, An Bord Pleanála will be bound by development plans in determining planning appeals.
26.) It will not be possible to adopt area plans until the whole development plan has been adopted.
27.) Partnership 2000 points to the need to consider further streamlining of the planning system to minimise delays and uncertainties, and the introduction of accelerated procedures for major projects involving significant employment and added value. These procedures will allow for applications for outline planning permission to be made on sites earmarked for the development of light/clean industry.
28.) Conditions will include specified classes of industry, outline designs of structures and maximum emission standards. Heavy industry including chemical/pharmaceutical industries likely to involve complex environmental issues will not be included in the specific list of acceptable industries.
29.) There is a concern that the present system of planning and licensing of activities which have implications for both physical planning and environmental protection is not sufficiently integrated to allow for a holistic consideration of complex development proposals. The planning system and the licensing system of the EPA will be revised to make it mandatory that both applications are considered simultaneously.
30.) Furthermore, both the planning authority and the EPA will be obliged to consult with each other as applications are considered.
31.) Applications relating to fire and building control will also be simultaneously considered. Bord Pleanála will be given the power to take environmental considerations into account in exceptional circumstances when determining on a planning appeal and have regard to standards imposed by the EPA.
32.) Environmental Impact Assessment procedures will be changed to ensure the independence and integrity of the process.
33.) For planning applications in the private sector, if an Environment Impact Statement is required by law, the developer will choose from a list of consultants provided by the planning authority. The consultant will be contracted by the planning authority to carry out the EIS and the cost will be recovered through planning fees. Public consultation at the scoping stage of the study will be mandatory.
34.) In the case of developments involving the State, consideration will be given to adopting an independent process to certify EIA statements. All major public projects involving an EIS will be obliged to involve the public in the scoping process, and before being certified, an oral hearing will be required.
35.) Information on planning and development will be made more accessible to local communities. Libraries, Post Offices, and Community Health Centres will be more widely used for public notice procedures, particularly planning applications and public consultation processes.
36.) Local Authority public consultation procedures will be revised and improved to ensure the maximum level of genuine public participation in decision-making.
37.) The relationship between a development plan and other forms of special designation, e.g. National Heritage Areas (NHAs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) will be clarified in the forthcoming Bill to amend the Wildlife Act. We will examine means of working in partnership with the private sector to fund a threatened species recovery programme.
38.) The range of development currently classed as exempted under the planning code will be reviewed.
39.) New legislation is being prepared along the lines recommended in Strenghtening the Protection of the Architectural Heritage (published in September 1996), and a package of administrative and financial measures will create a fully effective framework for protecting the built heritage. Owner occupiers of listed buildings who wish to carry out restoration works will be supported.
Sellafield
40.) Following the success of the "Nirex Campaign" two areas in the British Nuclear Fuels operation are of very serious concern in Ireland:
41.) We have demonstrated what can be done with the Nirex Dump and will now pursue these two primary targets.
Transport
Introduction
42.) Transport policy should involve sustainable investment and clear strategies. The emphasis must be on optimum use of existing infrastructure and resources, reflecting the requirements to move people and goods, not vehicles.
43.) The transport system should be more efficient and competitive, safe, environmentally friendly and customer oriented. Transport policy should be demand driven: it should reinforce land use, social and economic policies.
Rural Transport
44.) In the context of rural disadvantage the provision of local public transport services is one of the keys to breaking the isolation and economic and social disadvantage of those living in rural areas. This includes younger people wishing to go to work or college or older citizens to shop, socialise, or travel locally.
45.) Labour proposes to introduce a licensing regime that will give an incentive to transport operators (public and private), to provide wide-spread services in rural areas.
46.) This will be enhanced by a system of contracting and the free travel arrangement.
47.) Labour supports, in line with the national sustainable development strategy, efficient, cost-effective and customer focused development of the rail network. This will provide economic, social, environmental and regional benefits.
Urban Transport
48.) It is our intention to intensify the evolution of policy as follows:
Roads
49.) Development will continue on the four strategic road corridors linking the principal centres of economic development and population, ports and airports. The completion of the national primary road network will be speeded up. Adequate resources will be allocated to national secondary roads.
50.) The roads restoration programme for county roads will be resourced at the present high level into the future until the network is up to standard. Under Labour our county roads will be maintained and never again will rural communities be cut off because of poorly maintained roads.
Sustainable Development
51.) The Strategy for Sustainable Development was launched by Brendan Howlin in April 1997. The Strategy sets out the programme of commitments and actions across the entire economic spectrum which are necessary to focus our economy and our society on a more sustainable path. A significant number of Labour’s proposals on the environment is informed by the Strategy which has been broadly welcomed as a major milestone in environmental policy in Ireland.
Action and Awareness
52.) Public concern about the environment, and unsustainable practices which threaten or damage it, is well developed. However, this concern does not always translate into action at individual or consumer level. Individual action counts. The Strategy will ensure that people make choices on the basis of better information.
53.) Labour in Government will ask the Director of Consumer Affairs to make recommendations for providing full and authoritative environmental information to consumers, and in consultation with the relevant Departments, to prepare a Code of Practice on green marketing.
54.) The Access to Information in the Environment Regulations 1996, will be reviewed in the context of Freedom of Information legislation. A Code of Good Practice on Issuing Environmental Information will be prepared for implementing authorities by the Department of the Environment.
55.) The new Litter Pollution Bill will be vigorously implemented, the environmental service – ENFO – will be further developed and greater emphasis will be placed on environmental education within the formal education system.
56.) A new system of financial support will be established by the Department of the Environment for community based environmental awareness activities.
57.) As part of the continuing implementation of a sustainable development strategy, we intend to act across the following areas:
Water Resources
Landscape and Nature
Waste Management
Air Quality
Energy
Agriculture
Forestry
Marine Resources
Tourism
Industry
Food Safety and Consumers
58.) Labour believes that the welfare concerns and rights of consumers must take precedence over all other aspects of the food industry. These concerns centre on the safety, the nutritional merit, the cost as well as ethical concerns in relation to the methods of food production. The legitimate interests of those who produce food must be seen as secondary to the over riding importance of consumers.
59.) It is imperative that a clearly defined structure to ensure food safety is established and properly funded and managed. The new Food Safety Authority proposed by the Government is a welcome development. Its auditing and supervisory powers in relation to food safety and its capacity to act directly in emerging situations will be important. It is imperative that the new authority is funded adequately and that it engages the right level of expertise to build public confidence in its operations. The public now demands genuine performance in consumer protection, and not just promises from farmers, processors, distributors and politicians.
60.) There should be a specially dedicated enforcement unit within the Food Safety Authority. This unit should have senior status within the structure of the Authority, and it could, for example, have the title "Commissioner of Food Safety".
61.) A central food safety laboratory equipped to compile and analyse the data necessary to enforce safe food standards is essential. Standards on a par with the highest in the world must be set with particular emphasis on the established food pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. These are responsible for must cases of food poisoning. Wile under-reporting of cases and outbreaks of food poisoning is accepted as the de facto situation internationally, unless reasonable baseline data is accumulated on the actual number of cases and outbreaks of food borne illness, it will prove difficult to put in place an effective programme to ensure a real reduction in the numbers of incidents.
62.) To counter this, it is imperative that general practitioners are encouraged to report cases of food poisoning. In relation to the emerging food hazards such as BSE in beef and the occurrence of E.coli O157 (the new hamburger bug). it is suggested that a co-operation agreement should be made between the laboratory here dealing with food safety and a number of food safety laboratories in the UK, Europe and the United States. This would ensure that Irish expertise on emerging food hazards would be equal to the best available anywhere in the world. It is also suggested that a comprehensive exchange programme between food scientists in Irish laboratories and those overseas be put in place.
63.) Within the ambit of EU Regulations, there must be clear regulations on the use of food additives with an emphasis on the reduction of the level of additives in foods to the lowest levels compatible with safety, convenience and cost. The FSA would be charged with enforcing these standards and ensuring that the levels of additives in foods were in accord with the levels specified on the labels.
64.)We propose:
Ethical concerns on production methods
65.) The pasts ten years has seen a growing concern among the public about the ethical aspects of food production. The public now recoil from many of the technologies used in "factory farming". The Food Safety Authority should have a supervisory role to monitor such practices, and if necessary should recommend legislators that unacceptable practices be outlawed.
Genetic Methods
66.) There is a great deal of public concern about the possible dangers that could arise from the introduction of genetically engineered materials of foods. There is a need for an adequate licensing system so as to ensure that they do not pose any threat to the health of the consumer. A committee of experts should advise the Food Safety Authority on the risks and issues that are attached to the use of these products for human consumption.
67.) A similar licencing process will apply to novel foods such as new proteins produced by the chemical industry either as main ingredients or types of food additives. New methods of food processing will also fall within the remit of a similar control mechanism. New food processing techniques such as the irradiation of foods should require a licence and similar labelling requirements would apply to these processes as apply to genetically engineered foods.
Cultural Identity
68.) The talent and creativity of Irish people has been projected through literature, music and the visual arts with considerable pride in recent years. This has been the case throughout the European Union, as exemplified by events such as L’Imaginaire Irlandaise in France. This confident expression of our cultural identity through the arts will continue to be fostered through:
Arts & Culture
69.) Three years of the Arts Plan has produced significant advances. Funding for the last two years of the Arts Plan will be provided.
70.) A significant start has been made in building a regional network of theatres, art galleries, museums and arts centres at more than 30 locations throughout the country. This will be completed by 1999, and will be followed by a further five year development plan.
71.) Labour will put in place a definite building plan for the National Museum at Collins Barracks in Dublin. The short and medium term capital needs of the Abbey Theatre will be addressed.
72.) Labour acknowledges that the arts can play a central part in any community development process.
73.) Resources will be targeted to encourage communities to provide opportunities for direct participation in arts activities as well as to access high quality performances and exhibitions. The range of cultural services to communities will include projects to foster an understanding and respect for the heritage of their own locality.
74.) The Arts Awareness Intervention Programme for the long-term unemployed was developed by "Creative Activity for Everyone" as a Labour Party initiative in government. It will be possible to organise similar projects for other marginalised groups and resources will be provided for this purpose.
75.) The Percentage for Art Scheme currently provides for the inclusion of arts works in public building projects under the aegis of the Department of the Environment and the Office of Public Works. The Scheme will be revised and expanded and will be extended to the building programmes of other Government Departments.
76.) Labour is firmly committed to the centrality of the arts in our education system.
An Gaeilge
77.) The self-confidence of a coming generation, which burst upon our screens with the inauguration of Teilifís na Gaeilge, showed young Irish men and women working at ease with the latest communications technology, comfortable with the challenges of the modern world and secure in their sense of identity in a multifaceted culture. This is the proud context in which the future of the Irish language will evolve.
78.) The decline in the use of the Irish language has been arrested. In the last decade the number of people using Irish as their medium of communication on a regular basis has stabilised at about 11% of the population.
79.) A series of initiatives will be taken, along the lines recommended in the report Treo 2000, aimed at increasing the number of people choosing to speak Irish in their homes, in their work places and during their leisure time. A strategic plan to achieve a level of 15% over the next decade will be drawn up.
80.) Sé cuspóir ár bpolasaithe ná cothromanocht a chruthú – ciallaíon sé sin saol phobal na Gaeltachtí a bheith ar chomhchéim leis an tír i gcoitinn agus cearta iomlán teangan i ndeighleáil leis an stát agus an córas poibli.
81.) Labour believes in the central importance of the family in the promotion of the Irish language in the community. Bord na Gaeilge will be asked to provide information and advice programmes for families on the language options and services available. A special support programme will be set up to encourage parents in speaking Irish to their children.
82.) Building on the work of recent years the promotion of bilingualism in Government Departments and Stage Agencies with a view to providing services in Irish to those who seek this right will continue. In addition, legislation to codify the rights of those speaking the Irish language as their principal language, will be introduced.
83.) An Gúm – the Irish Publications Branch – will develop a five to eight year programme for the provision of a complete range of Irish language textbooks and dictionaries.
84.) The Commission on School Accommodation Needs will initiate a national study to measure the level of demand for all-Irish schooling at the primary and post primary levels.
85.) A ten year development plan for Irish-medium education will be formulated.
86.) A project-based system for funding voluntary organisations promoting the Irish language will be phased in.
Heritage
87.) Autonomous governance arrangements for the National Museum and the National Library have been provided in the Cultural Institutions Act 1997. Our objective is to raise the National Cultural Institutions for Heritage to a level comparable to their European counterparts.
88.) There is need to provide for a phased expansion of recruitment of the professional skilled staff that are necessary. Labour proposes that a three person Group – an independent Chairperson and nominees of the Departments of Finance and Arts, Culture & the Gaeltacht – will identify the staff needs and recommend the appropriate phasing.
89.) Labour has developed integrated proposals for the protection of the country’s architectural heritage. Our plan is:
90.) Labour will sponsor legislation to establish Natural Heritage Areas throughout the country. This will give protection to important parts of the countryside. It will also enable Ireland to ratify the Convention on International Traffic in Endangered Species.
91.) The vibrancy of our cultural life and the richness of our countryside in heritage sites and monuments is a major feature in Ireland’s attraction as a tourist destination. To ensure authenticity, it is desirable to have integrated cultural projects rooted in the community which can ultimately be shared with the visitor.
Broadcasting
92.) Labour believes it vital that Irish people should continue to enjoy:
93.) RTE will be strenghtened legally and financially as the National Broadcaster.
94.) There is almost certain to be a major shift in the broadcasting environment in the wake of digital technology and the television ambitions of market driven transnational conglomerates. Irish based entrepreneurs must be able to develop as broadcasters, to promote a genuine mixed model of radio and television providers, with strong community loyalties encouraged by indigenous talent.
95.) Labour will set up by statute a Broadcasting Commission, along the lines published by Michael D. Higgins, to provide the necessary regulatory framework for a resilient, flexible approach in the coming decades.
Development of the Cultural Industries
96.) Film, publishing and music have been shown to be job rich enterprises. Labour in government have promoted strongly the indigenous film industry, and the incentives necessary to ensure future development will be maintained and refined. A start has been made in growing the music sector by the extension of the Business Expansion Scheme to music related investments. A Music Board will be established in partnership with the industry to provide supports for developmental projects.
Planning & Funding
97.) Ireland’s per capita expenditure on cultural services has traditionally lagged behind European norms. Labour has focused on cultural planning and, over the last four years, has given an impetus to sectoral reform and renewal.
98.) Many issues remain to be addressed and for this additional resources will be required. At present about 0.9% of public expenditure is allocated for cultural purposes. Labour proposes to raise this steadily.
