Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He said he would revise the 2005 guidelines speedily. When will the working group which was established in 2017 and comprises senior representatives from the Department produce the report? When will we see the recommendations and changes required? Will the Minister of State update me on his plan to issue the revised guidelines, giving dates and times? We need speedy action on this issue which is of major concern not only in my county but also across the country. It should be remembered that anybody who is seeking planning permission in a rural area would be contributing to the community through the local school or football club, by becoming involved in the locality or by bringing business to local shops. Therefore, planning departments need to be more positive towards new families who will add value to an area.

The latest debarring in my county is such that if an applicant lives in a village that is connected to the water mains and has sewerage, he or she cannot aspire to moving to the country area, of which he or she is part. I understand the difficulty with the proliferation of houses, but there are possible solutions. If a family can show lineage or a connection to a local village and its hinterland, through legal documentation, birth certificates or school attendance records which were sometimes used in the past, they should be allowed to seek to live there and not be debarred from realising their dream, that is, to have a house in what they consider to be the countryside.

I ask the Minister of State to tell us the timeframes involved. There are numerous people affected. I have assisted people who live in villages and bought sites to make a planning application. They now have a site that is valueless because they are being debarred from having the opportunity to build. We need action.

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