John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. He has opened the door to the possibility of this but what I want to see now is follow-through on that. I accept all of what he said in his response about the requirement for sustainable planning. The two instances I referred to in Dunmore East and Faithlegg are certainly not remote locations. In one of those instances there were applications from residents to try to regularise it. I can understand if from a planning perspective the restrictions in the original conditions could not be overcome but surely in this time of need for accommodation, it makes no sense, when Government policy is trying to move more short-term lets into permanent residential accommodation, that we cannot facilitate this. That is what I am looking for. I want to see follow-through here so we can have exemptions in our planning code for such developments.As I outlined in my opening statement, there can be differences between holiday homes and villages in the first instance, and permanent residential homes in the second instance, regarding the proper planning and sustainable development of individual local areas. There can be differences in the scale and density of such developments. Consequently, proposals for holiday homes and villages, and permanent residential developments, are often treated and assessed differently under the planning code. There are also situations where proposals for holiday home use would not be granted and where planning permission for permanent residential use would not be granted and vice versa, having regard to local circumstances. As things stand, any proposals for change of use of holiday homes to residential homes should be subject to separate assessments and planning applications by relevant local planning authorities on a case-by-case basis and having regard to a range of criteria, as I have outlined.

There might be some merit in considering what might be appropriate to introduce an exemption for change of use from holiday to permanent residential accommodation in certain circumstances. To further consider this, a better understanding of the types of locations and the issues arising in respect of such developments, particularly in regard to service capacity, suitability and standards, is required. To this end, it would be of assistance if such information could be provided to our Department in order to further investigate the matters raised. This might involve the local authorities carrying out local surveys that could be submitted to the Department. I am just suggesting that as a possible way forward. Having a better understanding of what we are dealing with would be useful.