Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

For a long time, constituents in Louth and, I am sure, every county in Ireland have encountered this problem of local needs. For the past number of years, I have been challenging the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and the Minister of State, Deputy English. In the past two or three years, they keep telling me it is the European court and this and that will be sorted out. People who live in villages, who want to stay in their own community and who want to build their own house cannot get planning permission. These can be farmers' sons and daughters. I do not know why it is so because in certain parts of the country, one can build a house anywhere. In my native county of Louth, the number of people who cannot build houses in a rural area is significant. I can understand the difficulty in urban areas of getting a house at present with density and everything else, but people want to go home and live beside their family. As people get older, they want their family beside them. What is the plan with local needs going forward?

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