Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to speak on this matter. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Roche, and welcome him to the House.

Senator Bannon is absolutely correct. The old style isolated county council cottages around the countryside, many of which are lying derelict, could be renovated through a grant scheme. Title deeds are often the problem with such properties as title cannot be proven. I am aware of a case where people have a keen desire to buy a property, live in it and be part of the community but its title deeds are obscure and go back almost a century.

I also agree with Senator Bannon's point on farmyards. Perhaps we have an idealistic notion of low walls and hens picking at the bit of meal which might be thrown to them, but I do not think that is the case. They were an essential part of country life.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to discuss sustainable rural housing guidelines. A debate on this issue has been consistently requested on the Order of Business. I hope all those who requested it will contribute to the debate. The Minister is hands-on in this area. I am long enough looking at policy documents and background papers to understand that he intervened. He brought to bear his depth of knowledge on policy planning in the public service and his experience of planning issues in a diverse county like Wicklow where discordant notes had been sounded on this matter in recent years. The guidelines bear the hallmarks of a Minister who is determined to bring about a change in policy. That is most welcome. The guidelines might never have been produced had the Minister not had his own views and a chance to express them.

I deal with many planning applications in County Westmeath. They usually relate to planning permission for one-off houses rather than housing developments. In some cases the house is for a single person but generally it is for couples planning to get married. There is no greater cause of stress for these people than to constantly have to ring up the planning office. We have failed to take into account the desires and aspirations of ordinary people who want to build houses to provide a roof over their head. Most people wish to live near their family members. They just want to get a house they can call their own, which we all have. I do not wish to sound like Mother Macree but it is important for people to have a place to call "home".

I welcome the inclusion in the guidelines of an expectation of courtesy and sensitivity from planning officials. Since the ending of the dual mandate, the Westmeath county manager, Ms McGuinness, has been very good in organising meetings every second month for Oireachtas Members. Programme managers also attend these meetings. The issue of courtesy and the availability of planning officials has dominated these meetings in recent months. I have written to the county manager requesting that we would have planners as well as programme managers at the next meeting for Oireachtas Members. There appears to be a great divergence of view between programme managers — maybe they are not called programme managers——