James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House to deal with the important issue of planning, which has been dear to my heart since I was first elected to a local authority 20 years ago. The issue of planning, or lack of planning, in communities takes up a great deal of public representatives' time.

While I would like to give an unreserved welcome to these guidelines, which provide for people wishing to live in their own communities, a basic right Fine Gael has supported for many years, I am a little disappointed that they do not make ample provision for the very necessary sustainable development and environmental protection. That is a major omission and deeply puzzling, given the timescale for the publication of the guidelines, which were released in draft form last year just days before the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis with an eye on the local and European elections last June. Planning authorities were told to implement them without the usual consultation period.

No matter how long overdue it is, the Government's commitment to rural communities is a boost to those who wish to live and raise families in their native areas. It is imperative that the concessions being made come hand in hand with provisions for the type of sustainable development which will allow rural communities to thrive. Due care must be given to environmental standards.

According to the 2002 census, approximately 40% of the population lives in rural areas. In the midlands and west, the proportion of the population living in open countryside increases to70%. Those who wish to live in rural areas have an inalienable right to choose where to live and neither planners nor local authorities should be in a position to force them to live in towns or cities. The planning process must be opened up to provide freedom of choice. The days of forced housing ghettos are long over and the people of rural Ireland demand and are entitled to choice. Speaking at the launch of the guidelines earlier this month, the Minister, Deputy Roche, said planning for the provision of rural housing must recognise the strong and continuing traditions of people living in rural areas and support and promote vibrant rural communities. The Opposition has said as much for years, but the reality has yet to become rosy.

While the Minister's words appear to paint a picture which echoes the idealistic portrait of an era of dancing at crossroads, they would not be recognised by the young people who have been frustrated and demoralised in their attempts to build a home and live in their own communities. The Minister should try painting his picture for farmers and landowners whose greatest wish was to see their sons and daughters build on their property and raise their grandchildren near at hand only to see their hopes dashed and their children forced into towns and cities. It is heartening to see that after many years, the Government has come to accept that people should have the right to live in their home areas and to build on family lands. Family sites are often the only option young people and returning emigrants, the newly included category to which the Minister referred, have to build a home of their own.

If the guidelines are to address the past wrongs of the rural planning process, it is essential that planners are seen to sing from the same hymn sheet. There is great variance among local authorities. One can be lucky and get one's house if one meets a certain planner in a particular local authority. It is an issue which must be addressed given that differences occur even among planners in the same local authorities.