John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his new role and I congratulate Senators on their election or appointment to the House. It is good to be back here for the second time this week.

I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for raising this important matter. We soldiered together on the joint committee on housing over the past five years. All things housing are important to the Senator, everyone else in the House and me.

As the Senator rightly pointed out, the programme for Government commits to continuing to support rural one-off housing. My Department is considering how best to proceed with updating the rural housing guidelines to bring this matter to a conclusion. This will be a priority for me as Minister of State with responsibility for local government and planning, recognising that rural housing continues to be an important component of overall new housing delivery nationally. The vast majority of one-off houses - well in excess of 90% - are built in rural settings. I wish to highlight that, notwithstanding the need for updated housing guidelines, planning permission has been granted for almost 6,000 one-off houses, on average, every year since 2020. Furthermore, one-off houses comprised 20% of housing completions over the 2020-24 period, with an average of 5,200 completed per annum. It is important to note that completion figures remain relatively high and stable at approximately 5,500 for each of the past three years.

The level of development continues to be facilitated by the national planning framework's national policy objective 15, which is to support the sustainable development of rural areas. Once issued, the updated guidelines will expand on the high-level spatial planning policy of the national planning framework, particularly national policy objective 19, which relates to rural housing. The NPO makes a clear policy distinction between rural areas under urban influence, that is, those areas within the commuter catchments of cities, towns and centres of employment, where there is a need to facilitate rural housing on the basis of demonstrable economic and social need on the one hand and, on the other, rural areas where population may be low or declining and rural housing may be facilitated on the basis of siting and design. The NPO is also aligned with the established approach whereby considerations of social or economic need are applied by planning authorities in rural areas under urban influence. The updated guidelines are intended to replace the current rural housing guidelines, which date from 2005. These will continue to enable county development plans to continue to provide for housing in the countryside, based on the considerations detailed in the NPF, while balancing this with the need to manage development in certain areas, such as around cities, larger towns and environmentally sensitive areas, in order to avoid overdevelopment.

One of the issues identified in the analysis of various county development plans is that eligibility criteria for rural housing, based on economic considerations such as farming or social ties to an area, are usually based on distance and duration of connection. These can vary significantly from one local authority to another. The updated rural housing guidelines will aim to set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing on a consistent basis, based on a high-level policy framework set by the national planning framework, which is currently being finalised.

It is important to assure the House that current and future planning guidelines will continue to enable county development plans to provide for rural housing. I know how important this is in my own area of Waterford and across the country. When they are finalised, the guidelines will be open for comment from the public and the House.