Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

There was a major build up and people's expectations were high. Everything was waiting for the Ard-Fheis to be used as the launching pad. Everyone on this side of the House was aware of what was going on.

We have now been presented with the guidelines and they are only that. There is a consultative process and the guidelines are not set in stone and no legal mechanism has been created. They are only guidelines.

I am a local representative and I still serve on the council. I am glad that the Minister, Deputy Cullen, is not present because he would admonish me in that regard. After I was elected to the council in 1999, we formulated a county development plan which recognised the need to facilitate people in rural areas. Every item included in the guidelines announced by the Minister is already contained in that county development plan. I do not understand how the situation has been improved or matters progressed. Even though my local council has its own county development plan which facilitates people in local rural areas, these people are still being turned down for planning permission. There are various reasons for that. The guidelines will not have an impact in terms of environmental issues or matters relating to location and settlement patterns. The specifications in the guidelines will not address problems of this nature in Donegal.

What is the position regarding the regional planning guidelines which will be enacted on 30 March? Do they contain a legal mechanism? As far as I understand it, under the regional planning guidelines we will not be able to tell individual local authorities how to formulate their plans. As matters stand, local authorities have the autonomy to make their own decisions within the regional framework. How can we put in place a blanket guideline for the entire country at central government level when the regional planning guidelines indicate that there are too many settlement criteria and pressures involved? There is a view that this matter must go back to local authorities, which will argue that it must go further to a decentralised level. The system cannot work on a centralised basis. For example, the pressures and settlement patterns which exist in the east of the country do not match those in Galway or Donegal. Each local authority has autonomy and I find it difficult to accept that the guidelines will change the pressures that exist.

Under Better Local Government, we were promised additional staff and resources in respect of planning. My local authority's planning office is under-funded and under-resourced. A senior planner indicated last week that the staff there work until midnight. How can we relax the planning laws if the resources are not in place? I want planning restrictions to be relaxed and, as already stated, Fine Gael is in favour of one off housing. However, the Government cannot state that it is in favour of such housing if it is not prepared to provide the necessary resources.

In the past year in Donegal, the most difficult thing for a local representative to do was to organise or hold a site meeting. I intend no disrespect to the planners in the county who have been snowed under by paperwork, administrative work and bureaucracy. That is the fundamental difficulty with the guidelines. We must be sensible and we must be in a position to say to local authorities that we will relax the guidelines and make it easier for people to build houses in rural areas. However, that will not happen until we provide the resources. Senator Glynn referred to this matter when he referred to the checking of plans etc.

People's expectations have been heightened. I have received telephone calls on a daily basis since last weekend from people who were turned down for planning permission on numerous occasions and who are now determined to resubmit their applications.