Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the two-year extension for existing planning permissions. However, I have concerns about other parts of the Bill because many people were unable to build houses during the pandemic. There is now a lack of materials and the prices of them are excessive. Everything is on the rise.

There is also an issue relating to people who were employed before the pandemic and had mortgage approval. Some of those people are unemployed at the moment and are now going back to the banks and asking for mortgages. They are now starting the process again and that is delaying matters. Some of those people are already two, three or four years into their five-year planning permissions. Historically, if someone could not complete the building of a house, he or she could extend planning permission for five years and roll it over. In light of the 2040 plan, people are panicking and trying to get planning permissions in rural areas, including towns and villages. Some people are not yet ready to build but, because they have partners and want to get married, they may be waiting and saving money. The clock is against those people and the two-year extension does not go far enough. On the other hand, other people who are in development are waiting on sites. People looking for local authority or private residential houses are sitting on their sites. We must have a case-by-case approach and let the county council decide who can get the extension to planning permission and who cannot, depending on the particulars before the council.

People are saving for mortgages. They must have one year of savings, after the pandemic. They must prove they have those savings before they can apply for a mortgage. They must then go through the process of trying to get a mortgage and then go through the process of building a house. I have been self-employed all my life. I have been working in the building sector since I was 15 years of age. I am now an employer. I have seen the changes that occurred in housing from the early 1990s onwards. One aspect that is changing almost annually is the cost of building in a rural area for people who are no burden on the local authorities or Irish Water. The sites I am talking about have their own water source and sewerage tanks, yet the people who are building are being charged between €5,000 and 8,000 to build houses on their own lands. What do they get in return? Nothing. They are contributing to the local library, footpaths and infrastructure in their areas. What if one is living in an area where there are no footpaths or libraries? Some people are lucky if there is a shop in their local area. Nothing is being put into the infrastructure of rural areas, yet people in these areas are paying the most.

We see now that a carbon tax will be added. The people who will pay the most in this country will be the 37% of the population living in towns, villages and rural areas. That is the case because they have no infrastructure, must drive everywhere, and will, therefore, be paying the most for carbon emissions. Should we not have some incentive whereby people who are living in towns, villages and rural areas, and have had no investment in infrastructure, get a tax break? The people living in the cities, who take all the funding, should have to pay more. The people in rural areas, towns and villages should be reimbursed through taxes as an incentive so they might get proper infrastructure in their areas.

They are no burden on the State but we are being charged hand over fist for everything we do. There are charges for the local bus to get our kids to school because there is no infrastructure. Now, we are being charged by the local authorities, set out under environmental laws that exist in this country for putting in septic tanks and building sites. We now have to pay in excess of €5,000 and get nothing in return.

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