Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is reasonable for farmers to say, "This is my farm. I own this land. It has been in my family for generations and I don't want to develop it. I want to continue to farm it." That is why we have a mechanism in place to allow people to request that their land be dezoned. So far, 1,687 submissions have been submitted to local authorities by landowners. Local authorities are going to consider those submissions. If landowners do not get the answers they want, they have the right to appeal to An Bord Pleanála. It is important to bear that in mind. Of the more than 1,600 landowners involved, 210 have done exactly what Deputy Michael Healy Rae said. They have indicated that they do not want their land developed and do not want housing estates on it. They want to continue to farm their land as they have done all their lives and as their families have done before them. That is why 210 landowners have requested dezoning already.

I take the Deputy's point that people may have missed the deadline. I am not sure if there is something we can do about that, but I will speak with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to see if that is possible.

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