Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)

The revised national planning framework includes many great suggestions, such as improving local connectivity to broadband, energy, transport and water networks, recognising Letterkenny as an important cross-border network for regional development and addressing the town and village rural population decline by encouraging new roles and functions for buildings, streets and sites. However, it is clear to me there is no intention of actually implementing many of these suggestions, including the revised planning network, given they are clearly not rooted in reality.

The suggestion, for example, to implement a proper, planned local authority-led approach to identifying, meeting and managing housing needs arising in the countryside areas is laughable. Anyone with experience of local politics knows this is just not possible, given how little power our county councils actually have. Shockingly, councillors currently have no power to identify, meet and manage housing needs. My party colleagues, the councillors of the 100% Redress party, had to walk out of a special plenary meeting on housing in Donegal County Council on Monday in protest at the lack of engagement on housing at council level.

The lack of action by the council and the Minister for housing on housing issues in Donegal, particularly the defective concrete crisis, is extremely frustrating. There is a complete disconnect between the Department of housing in Dublin and Donegal. We have asked the Minister, Deputy Browne, many times to visit Donegal so he can witness for himself the devastation caused by the defective concrete crisis. It is clear to me that the Government is far too removed from this issue. The crisis requires the experience of those who are impacted and councillors who know this crisis at first hand and who truly understand what is needed to tackle it. Decisions being made at local level regarding regional issues such as defective concrete should be made by elected representatives in the area, not by Government-appointed staff. County councillors should not have to serve as decision-makers or be forced to act as opposition in their own councils. We need to expand the remit of the local authorities and give more power to county councillors.

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