Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank everybody for their contributions. I listened with interest. Many valid points were made by Deputies who are clearly in touch with their constituencies. They know the reality on the ground in their constituencies. I might come back to a lot of those comments at the end of my closing remarks.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to outline the importance of the first revision of the national planning framework. I welcome the valuable discussion that has taken place, which reflects the importance of ensuring there is an up-to-date national strategic plan in place to guide the decisions that will shape Ireland for the next 20 years and provide the policy clarity that is needed to give certainty in these challenging times.

The national planning framework is the Government's high-level strategic plan for shaping the future growth and development of our country out to the year 2040. As outlined earlier by the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, this framework has been revised and updated to take account of changes that have occurred since its initial publication in 2018. It is a framework to guide public and private investment, to create and promote opportunities for our people and to protect and enhance our environment, from our villages to our cities and our unique rural areas.

As set out in the opening statements of my Government colleagues, the spatial planning system plays a key role in managing the impact of growth and development on our natural environment and mitigating climate change. In particular, I welcome the emphasis on biodiversity and the need to promote nature restoration in the revised NPF, which will provide the opportunity to align our future national restoration plan with the statutory planning system.

Countering the trend of urban sprawl, supporting the targeted delivery of infrastructure services and increasing the availability of new homes is a key focus of the revised NPF.

In the period between 2022 and 2040, it is expected that there will be roughly an extra 1 million people living in our country. This population growth will require new jobs and new homes which we need to plan for in a sustainable manner. This will require more land to be zoned, as well as more housing from other sources, such as through tackling vacancy and dereliction to utilise our existing building stock and to assist with meeting our climate obligations.

The NPF does not itself zone land and there must therefore be a further step to formalise the translation of updated NPF population and housing figures to the local level. The allocation of updated planning housing growth requirements on a local authority by local authority basis will involve a balanced methodology that factors in the level of housing demand arising from performance in terms of recent housing delivery and capacity while ensuring adherence to the policy parameters of the NPF strategy. Work on this stage is under way based on the revised NPF housing figures, and it is intended that this will inform the updating of development plans across the country over the coming months. The strategic plan-led approach to future housing development will inform the making of decisions in relation to planning applications in a robust and efficient manner, assisted by the statutory decision-making timelines contained within the Planning and Development Act 2024.

The impact of this will be significant and will require co-ordination and prioritisation to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to support and enable housing delivery and to ensure that housing delivery is aligned with the provision of services and facilities, including education, childcare, healthcare and recreational facilities, to support the expansion of existing settlements and the creation of new sustainable communities. Therefore, it will be critical to deliver compact and sustainable growth patterns, and any allocation of land in relation to updated targets will need to reflect the potential of brownfield land, including infill sites, the conversion of existing buildings and the reuse of vacant and derelict buildings, in addition to greenfield land, to deliver housing.

Addressing vacancy and making efficient use of efficient housing stock is a key Government priority. To address this, a number of structures have now been established, including a dedicated vacant homes unit in my Department, a full-time vacant homes officer in each local authority and the publication of a vacant homes action plan to draw together a number of vacancy-related measures across relevant Government Departments. The latest vacant homes action plan progress report, published in March 2025, shows that real progress has been made in tackling vacancy and dereliction, with significant investment through schemes such as the urban regeneration and development fund, the vacant property refurbishment grant and the repair and lease scheme, which help both local authorities and property owners to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use and revitalise towns across the country.

The NPF also highlights the benefits of protecting and enhancing our built heritage. The town centre first heritage revival scheme is utilising Ireland's ERDF EU-regional programmes to rehabilitate publicly owned vacant or derelict heritage buildings through renovation, renewal and adaptive reuse. This scheme is allocating over €117 million to transformative capital works to such buildings in Cork, Galway, Waterford, Donegal and elsewhere around the country.

The cornerstone policy of both the existing and draft revised national planning framework is the achievement of a greater regional balance in future population and employment growth. Critical to the achievement of greater regional balance is the overall development of both urban and rural areas in Ireland, with a particular policy focus on delivering strengthened and diversified rural communities, consistent with Government policy. This extends to the Gaeltacht areas across the country, where promotion and protection of the Irish language through the implementation of language plans are supported in this revision.

The opportunities provided by the green energy transition to effect regional development are promoted by the strategy, in addition to the need to deliver essential infrastructure such as transport, water, wastewater and electricity projects that are needed to support additional population and employment growth in all our regions. The funding of infrastructure projects, with specific public investment projects to support and promote a greater balance in regional development aligned with the NPF, is facilitated by the national development plan. Accordingly, the important interaction between the NPF and the NDP is essential to realising our objectives. The Government is committed to providing increased support for infrastructure through the creation of a dedicated infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and through the new housing activation office in my Department, and it is essential that we continue to address barriers to delivery in order to meet the needs of current and future generations. The NPF revision builds on existing policies to ensure we develop resilient, vibrant and inclusive places and communities to live.

This is a framework to allow Ireland to grow sustainably. The demographic of Ireland is changing; our population is increasing. Therefore, our housing targets are increasing. This framework recognises that and puts in place a framework that will tie in with our national development plan in order to achieve those housing targets, along with the revision of county development plans on a local authority basis. Climate action and nature restoration are at the key of the framework as well, which is very important, especially from my point of view and the remit I have within the Department. We must remember also - because I have heard a lot of criticism about the lack of targets in terms of regional development - that prior to the 2018 framework there was no 50:50 split.

In other words, the split between 50% growth in Dublin and the east compared with the north west, west and south was not there. Now it is there and that will allow investment in the regional areas but also protect a very important capital city we also need to invest in. There is a need for compact growth but this framework also allows and acknowledges the need, the requirement and the right of people living in rural areas to get planning permission within their communities. I take the point there is a need to empower local authorities to zone land where they deem it necessary and for them to have more say, as well as the reserved function in terms of how their development plans come together. I guess the criticism of the Office of the Planning Regulator is coming from that point, but this framework allows autonomy within the local authorities in order to do that.

The issue of one-off housing was a constant theme, especially from Deputies living in rural parts of Ireland. That is where I live and it is an issue I see cropping up daily. I have never heard of planning permission being refused because of the national planning framework. However, I absolutely accept young people, young couples, individuals and older people as well are experiencing many difficulties with getting planning permission in their communities, neighbourhoods and sometimes on their own land. When the development plans are reopened after this national planning framework is adopted there is an opportunity for local authorities and councillors to make decisions and write county development plans that support young people living in rural areas to get planning permission in rural areas. I accept it is a difficultly and that many young people are having to jump through too many hoops and go through two, three or four applications before they finally get permission on their land, in their community or neighbouring areas. These are people who want to contribute to their community, to their local sporting organisations and to live and work in their community.

Many Deputies made reference to infrastructure and wastewater in particular. This framework underlines the importance of this infrastructure. It is now down to the NDP and investment in Uisce Éireann, as well as the organisation itself, to ensure that infrastructure is delivered. I thank Deputies sincerely for their contributions.

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