Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am still not convinced that anything is substantively changing here. All I am convinced of is that the can is being kicked down the road. The vast majority applications from farmers to their local authorities to have their lands de-zoned because they are actively farming on them have been rejected. What will change? Is the letter from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage going to change that? The law remains the same. The consideration of the planning executive is exactly the same. How a town or village grows will remain exactly the same. I do not see what is changing.

My problem is that we have a genuine issue. I am not trying to simplify it, because there is a serious issue whereby someone may have an active farm that is located where the next part of a development should happen. As Deputy Matthews said, it may have to be skipped over. That is not good planning. To put everything off for a year because of a farm is not the right way to go. Why not exempt active farming at this point? Where there is land zoned and there is an active farm on that land, it is a business. It is operating. It is viable. There are other policies that we have to try and support that. Why not exempt that and, therefore, this year, we capture all of the other zoned land which is the majority of it that is not being actively farmed, that is lying vacant and that needs to be developed with housing on it?