Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Shanahan for his contribution. Of course these is a role for one-off rural housing. I am not opposed to it and never have been. Last year, 2022, over 5,500 one-off rural homes were built, 16% up on the year before. While building these, we need to make sure we are revitalising our towns and villages. That is why I have been very strong, particularly with the Croí Cónaithe vacancy grant, for which there have been over 4,000 applications. It offers €70,000 for a derelict dwelling and €50,000 for a vacant dwelling, with a top-up of an additional €20,000. That has been responded to really well. What we need is sustainable rural communities. These need to be supported by planning policy, and that is why I am reviewing. I will be introducing the planning and development Bill to the Cabinet in the next two weeks. I intend to publish it here and we will debate it. The revised rural planning guidelines are being prepared in the Department right now.

This Government is not against rural housing. I, as Minister responsible for housing, am certainly not opposed to it. The numbers and facts bear that out. I have done a couple of things to support it. This week, when I met the Deputy at the ploughing, we have extended the first-home scheme to one-off homes and rural homes – to self-builds. That is a really important departure. The first-home scheme has been very successful. We have had 6,000 registrations and over 2,500 approvals, and now we are extending the scheme to self-builds, which will be predominantly in the rural areas. The scheme is now open for applications.

I waived the development levy on developments for 12 months, resulting in an average saving of €12,700, and the Uisce Éireann connection charge. That also applies to one-off homes, not just to larger developments. That is in place for 12 months. It has been responded to well, and that is part of the reason we are seeing commencements continue to increase. Others – not the Deputy – wish to ignore the economic environment and funding environment that exist but we need to make sure we can keep costs at a minimum. The State can keep the costs down. We have done that with the development levy. The waiver is in place, and it is in place for one-off homes. Very significantly, we are seeing the biggest take-up of the vacancy grants in rural counties, in counties with high levels of dereliction and vacancy. There have been over 4,000 applications for the grant. They are for existing buildings. From a climate perspective but also from rural regeneration and Town Centre First perspectives, the grant makes sense. The grant also applies to one-off rural vacant homes. We made changes, some at the prompting of the Deputy and others on the other side of the House, to make sure it was available to everyone. The actions I have taken and the measures that are in place are working. Inexplicably, some others across the House would get rid of them, which I do not understand, although Deputy Shanahan is supportive of them. We want to expand them further and get more vacant homes back into use.

See this speech in context