Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if new EE-zoned land will be identified in tandem with industrial land rezonings for housing to enable relocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35806/25]

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Department issue guidance on the need for enterprise and employment zoned land to be identified in tandem with the industrial land rezonings that are being rezoned to enable further provision of housing and if that will then be used to enable relocation?

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The zoning of land is an exercise undertaken by planning authorities as part of their development plan process. The making of a development plan is a reserved function of the elected members of each planning authority who are required by legislation to be consistent with the established statutory national and regional planning policy and legislation, including, as identified in the national planning framework, regional spatial and economic strategies and ministerial planning guidelines. Development plans have to set out planning policies and objectives to provide for proper planning and sustainable development in their area over the six-year lifespan of the plan. We are moving to ten-year development plans. They must also include mandatory objectives for regeneration. It is up to local authorities to decide the quantum and location of zoned land, for whatever purpose. In the context of the guidance I referred to earlier that the Department will issue regarding the housing growth requirements, it will be a requirement for every local authority to vary their development plans. It will be a matter for the members in terms of the quantum and the exact location.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for that reply. The context for this question is in the fact the Dublin local authorities are advancing development frameworks that involve the rezoning of existing industrial land to residential or mixed use to meet housing supply targets. As the Minister of State said in his reply, that is a function of the local authority but done under the auspices of the national and regional strategies. The most recent example is the Ballyboggan masterplan, where Dublin City Council will rezone approximately 77 ha of industrial land between Cabra and Glasnevin to deliver an extra 6,000. Similarly, in south Dublin county, Cookstown and Ballymount are part of the city edge project. While this rezoning is welcome and makes sense from an urban development point of view, I have also raised in the House a number of times the need for space for indigenous SMEs to scale up. They are coming to me and other representatives around the country saying there is a shortage of industrial land and enterprise and employment zoned land. While I respect the right of planning authorities to set the development plans, we also know they are done within the context of national strategies and guidance issued from the Department. Will it specifically call out the need to ensure there is sufficient industrial land as well as the more than necessary zoning of housing land?

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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It is the requirement of local authorities and the reserved function of members to decide what locations and what specific zoning objectives they determine for each land bank. They are required to include mandatory objectives regarding regeneration and to provide zoning for residential, commercial, employment and enterprise, industrial and other uses to such extent as the proper planning and sustainable development of an area requires. The Minister and I will write to the local authorities in the context of their housing growth requirements and the variation process, but we do have to respect the reserved function of local authority members in setting their development plans where they feel it is appropriate for those given uses, be they very important industrial uses, residential, commercial or other uses as they see fit.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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One of the reasons I am raising this is the shortage of land. If we want to promote compact growth, or initiatives like 15-minute cities, it is important with large-scale housing developments we have adequate amounts of industrial and commercial land there as well. While I fully take the point that planning authorities do set their own development plans, we are also familiar with instances where either the Office of the Planning Regulator or a ministerial order has been put in place to vary or alter a development plan, as happened in my own county. I encourage the Minister to consider issuing guidance to local authorities in terms of thinking of the amount and quantum of EE land available in their counties to support employment in the large housing developments that are going to happen, to encourage compact growth and to be complementary to the transport-led planning, which we require as well. In the context of a vacancy that has been identified by Ministers in this House, there is not sufficient space for companies and SMEs in particular that want to scale up. We need to support their growth as the backbone of our economy in these uncertain global times.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the comments the Deputy made. It is not just for residential purposes; it is for industrial and commercial. While we do not instruct local authorities on specific areas, it is obviously a requirement to forward planning teams to look at the overall picture within a local authority area and determine where they feel residential, commercial, industrial zoning is appropriate and ensure there is an appropriate quantum of all of those uses within their local authority area. We will write to local authorities in terms of their housing growth requirements. That does open the variation process. The forward planning units within local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that full spectrum of uses is contained in any development plan.