Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. There is no doubt that there is a need to rejuvenate our rural areas and villages throughout the country. The reasons, as outlined by other speakers, are so sports teams can be maintained, schools can be kept open and parishes can be kept alive. We are all in agreement about this. However, will the guidelines announced by the Minister make a blind bit of difference? Many planners have stated they will make little or no difference and many members of local authorities have stated the same.

Previous speakers talked about planners keeping to the letter of the law. I hope nobody is suggesting planners should not keep to the letter of the law. If guidelines are set down, planners, irrespective of the county they are dealing with, must comply with them and keep to the letter of the law as outlined by the Government. There can be no shilly-shallying on this. The guidelines to be laid down must be adhered to.

I am concerned about the guidelines. They seem to be trying to be all things to all men, especially with the local elections coming up. I wonder whether they have any substance. I spoke to Senator Henry before this afternoon's debate and she brought to my attention the meeting of the Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government of 24 March, at which there were some very good presentations, especially by Professor Convery. His opinion was that people were opting to live in one-off houses because it was often the cheapest option. I do not necessarily agree with that opinion but it is true that for many people it is the cheapest option and sometimes the only one they can afford. This is because of the levies introduced by the Government through the local authorities, especially over the last year. Senator Henry also brought to my attention the presentation at the meeting of a paper by Dr. Donal Daly, who stated that 40% of Irish soils are not suitable for septic tanks and 15% of soils are not suitable for any type of sewage treatment because of the risk of contamination of groundwater which we all know is very serious.

I read the speech of the Minister, Deputy Cullen, at the launch of the draft guidelines on rural housing. To state that the proposed guidelines will promote sustainable housing development is a fabrication. The Minister's stated objectives were to facilitate people who have roots in an area in obtaining planning permission and, in the interest of sustaining population levels, to accommodate any demand for housing in rural areas suffering from population decline. This sounds lovely, but it is an effort to con the people of rural Ireland in the run-up to the local elections, which is part of the culture of this Government. The objectives outlined in the Minister's speech were given with the warning that approval would still be subject to normal planning requirements and good planning practice. In other words, if a planning officer feels an application contravenes planning requirements it will be refused.

If one asks planning officers around the country what the new guidelines will mean, one will hear many different opinions. Many officials say they will not make the slightest bit of difference to the policies which currently operate in many counties. The vast majority of refused rural housing applications were rejected because they contravened the development plan or were not in accordance with good planning practice. This will not change under the new guidelines. It is dishonest to give people false hope that they will obtain planning permission if they have links to rural areas. That is only partly the truth. In the majority of cases, people who have been refused permission in the past will be turned down again. These people will vent their anger on the Government when they realise this.

The Minister stated that he wanted planning authorities to adopt a more positive and proactive approach in dealing with rural housing. Very few on this side of the House disagree with that aim. However, he then stated that planning authorities should act as facilitators in bringing together various strands of opinion on how to deal with rural housing. Surely this is already the case every time local authorities discuss a development plan. Does a local authority not invite comment and consultation from all areas before finalising its development plan? If any local authority does not do this it should be reprimanded. Local authorities are being asked to do what they are already doing.

The Minister also stated he wanted planning authorities to have as constructive an approach as possible in helping applicants through the planning process. This is also something we all agree with, but is this practice not already in place? What is new? We already have pre-consultation before people apply. The Minister included this in earlier regulations. This has all been regurgitated as though it were a magic wand to solve all the problems of rural housing, which is not the case.

The Minister also stated he had made it clear that protecting water quality is a leading consideration in determining whether sites are suitable for development and that the necessary environmental safeguards will continue to be implemented. Most of the people who have been refused permission to build houses in rural areas over the last number of years were turned down because of these safeguards and the need to protect water quality. Again, this is a regurgitation of guidelines already in place.

It is difficult to disagree with the points the Minister makes, but the guidelines are only a smokescreen to satisfy a particular lobby. What is so earth shattering about them? Some people have been hysterical, saying they have gone too far and will lead to endless one-off houses. I do not believe this will be the case. The Minister is trying to cod people into thinking they will obtain planning permission after being refused previously for various environmental reasons. There is no question that even with the new guidelines, these people will be refused again. They are being given false hope.

The Government's policies on planning and the environment seem to change like the weather. The Minister of State said the new guidelines supersede the provisions on rural housing contained in the sustainable strategy document. However, the national spatial strategy's policy is at variance with the decentralisation proposals, so there seems to be a different policy for practically every day of the week. There are no linkages and no cohesive approach, which are so important for sustainable planning. The Minister's aim in planning for rural housing is to confuse people. It is a con trick or sleight of hand — saying one thing while meaning something else. It is typical of the Minister's approach; he can talk a good show but when one examines the substance of these guidelines there is nothing there. The stated policy which the Minister has advanced is even at variance with his own proposed guidelines. It is only a public relations exercise and will be shown as such in the years ahead. History will prove that these guidelines are a wasted exercise. Everything is dressed up but nothing is different. When people in rural areas apply for sites, especially if they are reapplying in places where they have already been refused permission, I suggest that the vast majority of them will be refused again for similar reasons. The Minister has outlined those reasons in the guidelines. The same thing is being put to people as if it is a magic wand for rural areas.

We all want to see proper development and growth in rural areas, especially where the population has declined in recent years in order to give such communities a pride in their culture. We all want to see infrastructural development so that small towns, villages and outlying areas can be built up into living communities with proper facilities, including post offices. The draft guidelines on rural housing may seem to address such problems but history will prove that they only amount to a window-dressing exercise.