Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Given the climate emergency, I have no difficulty with the importance of strategic environmental assessments and so on. That goes without saying but we are not at that point. We do not have planning guidelines. The delay has been on the part of many Governments. We are waiting for the planning guidelines. The people coming before us are not exaggerating. Everyone knows there is a problem with housing in Gaeltacht areas. It has huge significance for the Irish language. Without a sustainable way of living in houses, we cannot protect the Irish language. I do not have time to go into all that. The Minister of State is familiar with it in the first place. I have replies here that would fill a whole shelf in a library, like other colleagues who have followed up on the guidelines for Gaeltacht areas. The Minister of State is telling me they will be published in January. Is there a date for the publication? Is there a timeline for the completion of the consultation, the necessary strategic environmental assessment or the other reports? Having gone through all of that process, when will we have the guidelines?

See this speech in context