Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. To cut straight to the point, there has been strong delivery of new homes in rural areas over recent years. Approximately 26,000 rural house planning permissions were granted in the past five years. In the same period, nearly 93% of that number of rural homes were actually built. There is ongoing work. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is currently updating rural housing planning guidelines that will continue to allow for the development of homes in rural areas while also highlighting the need to manage certain areas around cities and towns in order to avoid overdevelopment of those areas.

As the Deputy knows, in the programme for Government and the rural development policy that was launched, the whole idea of developing town centres is a critical part. Funding will be provided to facilitate the reconstruction of run-down units or buildings and to refurbish and renovate them for residential purposes. The new rural regeneration policy will be part of that as well. The URDF, with well over €1 billion more in funding announced in recent times by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will dramatically increase infrastructure in towns across the country. Massive amounts of money are now allocated to get vital water infrastructure and enabling works done and facilitate development of enterprise, industry and housing right across the length and breadth of the country. This is critical to ensuring big investment in the regional cities to create a counterpole to the development of Dublin in the east, so that we have a more balanced development of the country into the future.

I do not think we have seen as large an investment programme across the regions as has been announced by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in recent times through the URDF. It will be transformative in terms of its impact on the cities and towns across the various regions, from the north-west to the west, south and midlands. That is the continued objective of Government in respect of both the URDF and other funding. Last weekend, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, announced €38 million for 79 projects from Castletownbere right across the length and breadth of coastal communities, right up to Donegal and out to Balbriggan. There will be very significant investment in harbours and estuaries, which will underpin economic activity in those areas. It is unprecedented what the Government is doing in terms of transforming active transport across the length and breadth of rural Ireland through the provision of greenways, walking routes and public transport.

See this speech in context