Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy for his comments. Like him, I had the privilege of serving on my local authority in County Westmeath. I was humbled to, and had the privilege of, serving as cathaoirleach and mayor of my town of Mullingar. I could really acutely see the pressures of trying to raise a young family as well. It is so difficult to balance the work of being a councillor, and being the first point of contact for citizens in one's local authority area, with family life. This is in addition to trying to hold down employment, which many local authority members do because the remuneration is so low. It is very difficult to balance family life with politics. It is always going to be a huge challenge. I had a good look around and saw a lot of it in County Westmeath. We absolutely lost some star performers, young female councillors and male ones as well. I hated to see them leaving the system. They were not only from my party but from all parties and none. So much value is lost from the system. That is why, incrementally, my approach is to try to leave the best mark I can for the time I am in the Custom House to improve the conditions our local authority members operate in, improving the office they have, the supports they have and the mechanisms surrounding that. We will absolutely do our very best to deliver on that. Having a young family myself, I could see it. I remember when my first baby was born in December 2015, working on the local authority and then trying to run in a general election the following February. It is so hard on a young family and we really must work on that and think about maternity leave and all those supports we need in order to help young families be involved in the electoral process. It is the only way we will get council chambers to reflect society. The chambers that govern society must be diverse and must reflect that society.

Deputy O'Donoghue is right in what he said about candidate eligibility. It is double that of the two Dáil constituencies because they mirror Limerick city and county. The figures of €1,000 or 60 signatories he referenced are based on the two constituencies.

It can often be a source of contention, but Project Ireland 2040 will remain the overarching policy for the State. It is a planning framework for the whole country. It is up to Limerick to make its plan flow from that, to have a shared vision and to develop. If we say that there should be X number of housing units zoned in Limerick, it is up to the local authority, in the context of its functional area, to decide where in the county and city growth is needed, where its infrastructure should be built and whether it should follow its infrastructure to get best value for the State.

I am doing a large amount of work on rural planning. I know this is an area Deputy O'Donoghue is keenly and acutely aware of. I am codifying a successor to the sustainable rural housing guidelines from 2005. Those guidelines are outdated so we are working on new ones. Coming from a large rural constituency, I am acutely aware that rural housing occupies 25% of our outputs each year. People who live in rural areas should have and will have - I want to be very clear on that - the right to build in the communities they live in once it is done in a sustainable manner and all the basic metrics and normal safety requirements, such as site lengths and percolation, are met. I am very keen on that. It is up to each local authority to decide how that will be delivered in its plan. It is interesting to note that my county, Westmeath, has a very robust rural housing plan, which has passed through the new independent Office of the Planning Regulator. The development plan for the county has finally been approved.

There will have to be a threshold somewhere along the line and I think most people accept that. Figures are consistent in County Limerick. I took a deep dive into the figures there and discovered that 85% of all rural housing applications have been approved. I examined how many were withdrawn and found that the number was less than 3% each year from 2016 to 2019. We need context when framing the debate on planning. I want to ensure that I have a codified document which provides for sustainable rural planning under the national planning framework, which fleshes out social and economic objectives and which works for people. I am from a large rural constituency and, consistently, 25% of our outputs are from rural planning.

To cut to the chase, Project Ireland 2040 is the overarching document. Documents relating to Limerick will have to flow from that and share its vision. The Deputy can flesh out what he needs for his area.