Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit on his appointment. I am sure he is wondering why a Senator from Dublin Central is asking about rural housing planning guidelines, but he knows my remit and that I was elected by councillors from around the country. He is also familiar with the fact that this is issue that was considered by the previous Oireachtas joint committee on housing. It is of great concern to councillors around the country who are trying to represent their constituents.

The sustainable rural housing planning guidelines were introduced in 2005, but the world has changed dramatically since then, not least in terms of housing. Ireland's population has increased significantly and the way we live has changed dramatically, in that we used to live four to six people in a household whereas now it is one to three people, so there is an almost doubling of the need for housing. We have full employment and people are earning a lot more money at a younger age, and they have a reasonable expectation to own their own homes. On top of that we have the changes that came about as a consequence of Covid-19, with remote working, which has created opportunities for people from urban areas to live in rural areas. There was already a pent-up demand in rural areas for housing.

I acknowledge that significant progress was made by the previous Government on increasing the housing budget from less than €500 million per year to more than €4 billion and increasing housing supply from less than 20,000 to more than 30,000 per annum. We all know this is not enough and more needs to be done. If we are to increase housing supply, we need to increase it for all communities, urban and rural alike. We need to support indigenous rural communities to continue to live on their land, but we also need to support those who want to return to enrich, contribute to and become part of those communities.

I acknowledge that the programme for Government contains a strong commitment on rural housing. According to it, the Government will continue to support one-off rural housing, support self-builds through the help-to-buy and first home schemes and the vacant property grants, and commit every local authority to facilitating the construction of serviced sites that provide for three to ten housing units in at least three towns and villages in their areas annually. The Government supports group water schemes and private well grants, implementing the special rural water investment scheme and reviewing the planning and transport guidelines to facilitate rural housing.

This is all well and good, but councillors around the country say that their constituents continue to be frustrated by what they feel is a lack of supportive rural planning guidelines. I appreciate that the Minister of State is new to his role but I hope he will be able to give some good news to those councillors this morning.