Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the update on the draft guidelines for rural one-off housing. The landscape has changed significantly for rural housing because we have had fundamental issues with regard to construction costs, material costs and the cost of building in rural Ireland. It might be much more prohibitive to build a house in rural Ireland, particularly a one-off house, than what is in the guidelines. I would welcome if the Minister of State were able to give some indication that he is cognisant of the significant ramping-up of the cost of building a house in rural Ireland and that some acknowledgement of this would be made.

We have a significant challenge, notwithstanding the success of the much-acclaimed Croí Cónaithe scheme. We have a challenge with getting more people living in rural Ireland, where schools and communities are under challenge. We need to make it much easier and much more accessible to live in rural Ireland. When we get these guidelines, they need to have meat and teeth. They need to make it not only aspirational but tangible for people to live in a house they own on their own ground in rural Ireland.

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