Pat Moylan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and compliment him on the recent decisions he has taken as many people were waiting for them. Steps need to be taken to support the future development of rural communities. Many people believe houses should be built in back gardens or small areas in Dublin and larger towns. Farm families, on the other hand, many of whom have a large number of hectares of land, have been unable to build a farm for family members, including sons and daughters. Under the new guidelines, people who have roots in or links to rural areas will receive planning permission in certain areas. This will prevent an influx of people seeking to build holiday homes in many scenic areas without depriving local people of the opportunity to continue to live in their locality. An important aspect of the guidelines is that they facilitate people who have a commitment to their local area.

Each local authority currently has responsibility for defining those who are entitled to receive planning permission as part of rural communities. They include farmers, their sons and daughters, persons taking over the ownership or running of farms and those who have lived most of their lives in a particular rural area. The provision that people from rural areas and those who can make a commitment to the development of rural areas will be entitled to receive planning permission is a welcome development.

I hope new houses will continue to be designed and located to integrate well with their physical surroundings and will be compatible with the conservation of sensitive areas such as natural habitats. As the Minister indicated, special areas of conservation, special protected areas and natural heritage areas will not be allowed to be used as a reason for a blanket refusal of one-off housing applications. This is also welcome because some rural areas in which local people wish to build are covered under these categories.

The guidelines will help to revive areas and communities suffering persistent and substantial population decline. Everyone is in favour of preserving our ground water which is the envy of most countries and the guidelines will ensure steps are taken to protect our water and maintain the highest water standards. The Minister has taken a balanced approach to this issue in stipulating that every effort must be made to protect our underground water sources, on which people in rural areas depend.

Planning authorities must examine their development plans and policies so as to ensure they are in line with the new rural housing planning guidelines. Planners may argue it was easier to obtain planning permission prior to the changes but this is not the case as a glance at the figures on planning applications refusals in rural areas would show.

The purpose of planning should be to make the best use of available natural resources and guide us in making planning decisions as opposed to ruling out development with a view to creating a rural wilderness, an approach favoured by some planners. An Bord Pleanála rejected on appeal approximately three quarters of all planning applications approved by local authorities. When local authorities granted applications — we also had many difficulties in this respect — and third parties appealed An Bord Pleanála was found wanting in looking after the interests of rural areas.

The majority of rural dwellers are neither farmers nor directly depend on farmers. Although less than 8% of the population is engaged in farming, many people have ties to rural areas. The Minister, through his guidelines, will afford many of those who originally came from rural areas an opportunity to return to them.

Local authorities must develop affordable private sites in our towns and villages where services are available to enable young families to build houses in them.