Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think Deputy Ring is also mad to get his hands on that Ministry.

I will make a few points. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, stepped in recently with respect to the Clare County Development Plan, which is in a state of flux at the moment. TII stated that there should be no planning permission granted for one-off houses on national and regional roads. That makes perfect sense most of the time, but not in a county like County Clare. West of Ennis, are the N67, N68 and N85. Pretty much every inch of roadway west of Ennis is designated as a regional or national road. It becomes unworkable when we think of villages such as Connolly, Inch or larger settlements such as Liscasey. They can now no longer grow. The rule heretofore was that decisions were made on a case-by-case basis. Many planning applications were correctly thrown out because it was unsafe to build in certain locations. However, now we have a blanket ban. While the issue may not fall under the responsibility of the Minister's Department, she needs to be a defender of the policy to let each application be gauged on its merits, on a case-by-case basis. If it is unsafe to build, the application should be refused. If it is safe, let us entertain it. Let us at least look at that application. If we come down on the issue with one hard rule, it denies many people west of Ennis and in the north of our county the opportunity to build and live rurally. The ability to live rurally and of rural communities to thrive and succeed should be the essence of the Minister's Department.

The other matter I will mention is the backlog in An Bord Pleanála. I recently said to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that it would be a great idea for files from certain counties to be reviewed in others. For example, the files from County Monaghan could be sent to County Clare, the files from County Clare could be sent to County Wexford and so on, so that files are assessed by skilled, highly-qualified planning technicians in other counties. An Bord Pleanála could then ratify them as normal. At the moment the backlog of files awaiting assessment and awaiting sign-off at An Bord Pleanála level is simply unworkable. We have resources in the local authorities. The idea is somewhat akin to the leaving certificate oral examinations in which an examiner comes from outside the county, assesses and the result is ratified by the State Examinations Commission. That should be looked at. In the interests of transparency, I have to state on the record that I have a planning file before An Bord Pleanála.

The pilot rural sewerage scheme that is being led by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the rural water schemes must be key to realising the potential of Housing for All. We can talk about over-shop living and Croí Cónaithe and all the other initiatives. Affordable housing and the accelerated delivery of social housing are important, but until villages have a public infrastructure for sewerage and water, they cannot fulfil the requirements for new development. That needs to be led.

Others have made the points about the local improvement scheme. I was a councillor for 16 years before I was elected to this House. It is obvious year-on-year that while the budget allocation to County Clare and other counties is generous, it is only the tip of the iceberg for what it is possible to do in a calendar year. Roads need to be maintained every ten years in order to keep them in good condition.

On the herd cull, I culled a short-term cow last week because she was 13 years old, lame and unwell. That is the type of animal that has traditionally been culled. We should not cull a good national herd. We will live to regret it many years from now.

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