Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Acting Chair for the opportunity to speak to the House on the issue of housing. Housing, be it social, affordable or whatever is one of the most important issues facing our communities throughout the country. In the time allotted to me, I wish to discuss housing in rural Ireland. In particular, I wish to speak about the small villages throughout the country which, over the past six or seven years, have seen the construction of housing estates on a scale which we could not have envisaged even ten years ago.

In 1997, the pressing issues were that small villages were dying, school numbers were reducing, the number of teachers and classrooms was being reduced and so forth. Seven or eight years later, the boom and the amount of housing construction in the rural villages and small towns has meant that the issues have changed. The issue now is that a school may be unable to take its anticipated number of pupils in three or four years' time. While the facilities in some of the provincial towns such as football pitches, playgrounds and so forth already existed, in some of the smaller villages, the recreational infrastructure was not put in place while the houses were built.

This issue is a by-product of the prosperity which we have witnessed and it is good to see these communities become live, active and vibrant once again. As politicians, Members should examine county development plans, particularly at county council level, to ensure that zoning is carried out in respect of the provision of facilities that may be required, such as extra schools, playgrounds or other recreational facilities. Such facilities should be taken into account when the county development plan is drawn up.

From time to time in the national media, rural once-off planning is bandied about as being detrimental to the provision of sustainable services and so forth. The guidelines have been relaxed somewhat and we must ensure that through the local authorities, people from rural communities are allowed to attain planning permission and to live in those rural communities. They will be able to live and create a vibrant rural community because——

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