Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In discussing this very important issue, I want to highlight something on behalf of the people of Kerry. This is the loss of the single rural cottages. It has been so long that a lot of politicians might not even remember what that was.

A farmer - man or woman - would give half an acre to the local authority and the authority could build a house that would serve that family for generations. They are very difficult to get now, as are affordable homes. I am a supporter of approved housing bodies but, in places like Killarney, Killorglin, Kenmare, Cahersiveen, Listowel and Dingle, we might have houses like that being built but no affordable houses are being built for people who are working and want to get a mortgage, buy the house and pay off the mortgage over their working life. They cannot do that because those houses are not available. That is a big problem in County Kerry for working people who want to pay for their own houses but cannot buy them.

One reason they cannot buy them is small builders are gone. We had highly respectable men and women; many are gone to their maker. Lovely people like John Joe Gleeson, who was a local builder in Kilgarvan, and plenty of others come to my mind. They were not big builders but always built a few houses, sold them, did great work and provided a service to the community. They are gone because they have been hunted out of business by this Government and previous Governments.

With regard to TII, look at what is happening when it comes to planning permission. I am talking about the Ring of Kerry road, for example, leaving Killorglin and going through Cahersiveen, Waterville, Castlecove, Caherdaniel and Sneem. All along the Ring of Kerry, you cannot get planning permission. Why not? Because TII will object. Why will it? It says you cannot make an entrance or you would be putting road users in danger. The killing thing is the boys and girls who want to build those houses are living on the Ring of Kerry road anyway. They live in their parents' houses. They have cars and want to get their own set-up. They will not create one extra vehicle movement on the road because they are doing it anyway. They are entitled to do it because the Government cannot stop them. If it could, it would, but thanks be to God it does not have that power yet.

The Minister of State knows there are people in An Taisce and the Green Party who have made a career out of objecting to other people because they think the countryside is a big nature park for people to come from the city to look at. They do not want us destroying it by having our sons, daughters or grandchildren living there. Unfortunately, I have a message for the Green Party, card-carrying An Taisce members and the people in An Bord Pleanála: we will do our best to ensure we continue to have life in rural Ireland. We will keep the lights on. We are the people who are important because we have kept it going so far and will keep it going in spite of Government policies, objectors and people who want to keep it as a nature reserve and who know everything about every species except the human species.

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