A number of Waterford councillors have called for a change in how the population of the county is determined.
The matter was mentioned at this month's Plenary Meeting of Waterford Council as the Waterford Economic Strategy for the next 20 years was unveiled.
Councillor Joe Kelly was among those to welcome the ambitious plan - but warned as the population grows, our resources will be under strain.
"Our schools are full to the brim. I think almost all schools in the metropolitan area - and maybe the entire city and county - are full," he told the meeting.
"We can't take in the children that now need to be educated.
"I was given information from the hospital this morning that they are finding it difficult to recruit people because they can't find houses to live in.
"Our campaign about Waterford being the best place to live in Ireland and everybody is now starting to find out what it's like.
"We're getting even more people and the census has told us that."
A fellow Independent, Councillor Mary Roche, said she believes that Waterford is far bigger than actually reported:
"[The population] is artificially suppressed and kept low and that makes us the smallest city, when in fact I believe we are probably about the third largest city, if we were counted on the same basis as the metropolitan areas of the other cities in Ireland."
According to the preliminary results of the 2022 census, the county of Waterford's population has increased from 116,176 in 2016, to 127,085.
The preliminary results for the city's population have yet to be revealed but the figure stood at 53,504.
These claims by Councillor Roche were supported by Councillor Kelly, who stated the need for that to be taken into consideration when it comes to this new economic strategy.
"Putting a document like this together is very important," he said, "even though sometimes people say it's just aspirational.
"But you have to have a template or something to work towards - and Michael and his team have done great work.
"...I absolutely concur with Councillor Roche and the idea that we're being measured wrong.
"When we did try to change that - and I remember Councillor Roche raised that before - we were told that it's kind of a national decision.
"I think we as a council need to start a campaign or come up with a strategy now to start pushing for that change of map or boundaries."
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