The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys has told the Dáil that planning regulations should help people to build homes on their own land.
The minister was speaking during a recent debate on the government’s rural development policy, “Our Rural Future”.
“As we stand here today (Wednesday, June 14) we have more people living in rural Ireland than ever before.
“We have more people working in rural Ireland than ever before. In the history of the State there has never been more investment going into rural communities than under this government,” she said.
Planning
Minister Heather Humphreys acknowledged that “there are challenges in rural areas”, including securing planning permission.
“None of us wants to see a return to the bad old days of ribbon development or houses being built on flood plains. However, there has to be a balance in this regard.
“Our planning regulations need to support people to build on their own land.
“We have a golden, once-in-a-generation opportunity now to support the return of young people to our rural parishes. Government policy must support this, not get in the way of it.
“It is critical that the forthcoming rural planning guidelines from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage recognise this,” she said.
Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Kieran O’Donnell noted that just under 7,000 rural houses were built in 2022 and around 7,500 in the previous year.
“I take the point about wanting people to return to live in their rural parishes. That is something that we are very conscious of in the department,” he said.
Rural areas
TDs from across the country told the debate of the difficulty in securing planning permission in rural areas.
Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív said that “planning policy is totally against the traditional rural settlement of rural Ireland.”
“The establishment made up of academics and administrators seems hell-bent on making it practically impossible to build a house for one’s family, especially in more scenic rural areas,” he said.
“What seems to be happening is they are trying to impose planning policies from Europe where there is a different settlement history from Ireland.”
“We need to start back at the rural planning framework, which is where the fundamental initial problem lies, and build on that and get proper rural housing guidelines,” the Galway West TD added.
Independent TD for Louth, Peter Fitzpatrick, said that housing in rural Ireland has always been a major difficulty, “with planning permissions almost impossible to obtain”.
“The variation in the reasons for refusal is shocking in a time of housing crisis.”
Independent Deputy Cathal Berry described housing as the “Achilles heel of rural Ireland”.
“Most people who come to my constituency office are young couples who are very environmentally aware. The last thing they want to do is cause any kind of harm to the environment.
“A big issue is that is it very difficult to get even a preplanning meeting with the local planning authority,” the Kildare TD said.
Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said that “much of Kerry is now a no-go area as far as getting planning permission is concerned”.
The government has angered many people in our county who cannot get planning permission, which is the basic right just to put a roof over your head,” the Independent TD said.