Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I refer to the submission received from the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, a representative group for councillors. There are some proposals in it that I would be happy about, and I think I have mentioned them to the Minister. Section 183 of the 2001 Act will remain. The Minister has acknowledged that for any areas not zoned for housing, that section will remain in place. Councillors will still have the right, under the county development plan, to outline areas for housing. Therefore, councillors themselves will still have the right to designate what areas are for housing and what areas are not. This is crucial. It means the Minister has taken into account the role and the reserve function of councillors in every municipal district and county council in the country.

As someone who was elected a first-time councillor in May 2019, and as a native born and bred and Ballinasloe, I intimately know the importance of zoning in the area. As someone whose family for generations has fought for Ballinasloe, whose father was on that 1999 High Court order, I know it intimately. As someone who was on the court order of 2019, I know how important it is to fight to ensure that areas are zoned appropriately for the community and that they protect the community they serve. This legislation, however, is about housing and the lack thereof. According to localauthorityfinances.com, a website run by the National University of Ireland Galway, NUIG ,Galway County Council is able to allocate only €80 per capita. There are 200,000 people in the second largest county, geographically speaking. The national average per capitais €400, while in Galway we have €80 per head, with 200,000 people. Many people have come to me, as someone who was elected councillor, regarding the lack of housing and the fact they cannot get anything to rent, and even I was somebody who was renting.

The Government is fighting for housing and using every tool in its armoury to ensure that housing is available for people who need it. There is no way we are going to step back or be part of a group that does not vote to get housing across the line as soon as possible. In every way, I will protect the rights of councillors and their reserve function. Section 183 of the 2001 Act still protects councillors' rights in that way.

I have spoken about this previously. Some elements of the AILG submission that I would like to mention again relate to supports to councils with urban centres of under 10,000 people. In County Galway, there are more than 200,000 people. What supports are going to be given for our urban centres, such as Tuam, with 8,000, or Ballinasloe, with 6,500? What housing project teams will be offered to those local authorities to support them to deliver what we want them to do in the next year or two under the Housing for All strategy? We need resources. The AILG is a fantastic representative body and the Minister might enlighten us as to what engagement he has had with it to date.

I thank the Minister for his contribution. We will speak again about zoning different areas, but the deadline for the county development plan for Galway County Council is 30 July. Anyone who has any interest in the zoning of Ballinasloe, or in any other area of east Galway or County Galway, has until 30 July to make a submission.