Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to the House. It is good to have the senior Minister present. I am sure Senator Lombard will be grateful for that. He has four minutes.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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You are correct, a Chathaoirligh. I acknowledge the presence of the senior Minister this morning. It is a great honour to have him here. I compliment him on the good work he has done, in particular the work he is doing with the national planning framework in recent weeks and months.

I tabled this Commencement debate on the Flemish decree made in 2013. It is a European Court of Justice ruling that has been rolling on and has been debated in many quarters ever since. Employment is a big issue in rural areas but housing is even more significant. This decree has brought uncertainty to one-off rural housing and who can apply for it. The issue has been debated in many local authorities, communities and households because of the fear that it could go one of two ways. It could open up such housing to everyone, which could have a major impact on the environment, or it might restrict it too much. I believe there is a middle ground that must be explored. The Flemish decree affects the "locals only" designation, which is a significant issue for rural areas. If we do not have a thriving one-off housing market that allows people who were born and bred in a locality to live there then communities will become eroded. We must ensure that communities are fostered. In order for that to happen we need to make provision for the development of one-off housing so that people who are from a community can live there.

The decline of rural areas is a significant issue. The sustainability of rural areas and such housing are crucial issues for society. Clarity is required. Before the national planning framework, NPF, is announced the Government must make its views clear on housing policy for one-off housing and whether only people actively involved in farming will be granted planning permission or if permission for such housing will be based on social and economic grounds. The latter is the key to ensuring rural communities survive. If social and economic grounds are not accepted then, unfortunately, the knock-on effect will mean the decline we have seen in the past two or three decades will continue. I urge the Minister to provide clarity on this important issue in order that we can move on together. Clarity on one-off rural housing is necessary for councils and people in rural communities.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Lombard for giving me the opportunity to outline the current position regarding the impact of the Flemish decree case on one-off housing in rural areas, and to provide an update on the revision of the 2005 planning guidelines on sustainable rural housing issued under section 28 of the Planning Act and also to clarify some misconceptions regarding rural policies on the issue contained in the national planning framework.

Under the 2005 guidelines planning authorities are required to frame the planning policies in their development plans in a balanced and measured way that ensures the housing needs of rural communities are met, while avoiding excessive urban-generated housing and haphazard development, particularly in those areas near cities and towns that are under pressure from urban generated development.

The guidelines also aim to ensure that sites being developed for rural housing are suitable with regard to vehicular access, wastewater disposal and also from landscape and design perspectives. The guidelines suggest a number of criteria to be taken into account in local authority development plans for the purpose of assessing whether planning applications for rural housing are intended to meet a rural-generated housing need. That need will only increase as the population grows in the future. Those criteria primarily relate to familial or occupational ties of planning applicants to the rural area in question. The European Commission issued an infringement notice against Ireland in relation to the rural housing guidelines in 2007, which was subsequently deferred pending the outcome of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, Flemish decree case against Belgium. The decree linked the transfer of property in certain Flemish communes to the condition that there should exist a sufficient connection between the prospective property buyer and the relevant commune. This connection had the practical effect of precluding non-locals from purchasing property in the Flemish communes in question.

In 2013, the ECJ ruled that the Flemish decree constituted an unjustified restriction on fundamental freedoms under the EU Treaty, in particular that it breached Article 43 of the treaty on the freedom of movement of citizens. Further to the ECJ judgment, the European Commission re-engaged with my Department on the 2005 guidelines. Arising from that and further subsequent engagement between my Department and the European Commission, a working group - comprising senior representatives from my Department and planning authorities - was established last May to review and, where necessary, recommend changes to the 2005 guidelines, to ensure that rural housing policies and objectives contained in county development plans comply with the relevant provisions of the EU Treaty without undermining rural communities. The working group concluded its deliberations in September 2017 and my Department is now consulting with the European Commission on the matter, with a view to issuing revised guidelines to planning authorities, as soon as possible after the finalised national planning framework is adopted and published. Planning authorities, and where appropriate, An Bord Pleanála, will be required to apply the revised guidelines in relation to the assessment and determination of planning applications and appeals in respect of rural housing proposals. Pending the issuing of the proposed new revised guidelines, planning authorities were advised by way of circular letter issued by my Department in May 2017 that the existing 2005 guidelines remain in place, and that they should not amend the rural housing local needs policies in their development plans until the revised guidelines have issued.

In relation to broader rural policies, the Senator is no doubt aware that the national planning framework is currently being finalised by the Government - he has championed a number of policies in it - and while its remit goes much further than rural settlement, today's debate gives me a good opportunity to quell any misplaced fears that may have been generated that the framework will present some sort of clampdown on rural housing. That is far from the truth. It is in fact unhelpful and detracts from wider and more strategic messages in the NPF around linking our planning vision with our capital investments and new tools to deliver sustainable development, both urban and rural. I wish to make it clear that the NPF fully supports the concept of living in the countryside. Nothing in it suggests any sort of a policy shift from what local authorities are supposed to be doing at the moment in terms of implementing the rural housing guidelines, which is broadly to apply a general siting and design-based policy across the country for the purposes of determining rural housing planning applications and in some limited areas around the main cities and towns that are under genuine pressure from significant unco-ordinated and ribbon type development, to ensure that in such areas, housing need should be determined by social, economic or occupational linkages to the rural area in question.

Moreover, while the framework endorses a more rigorous approach to assessment of housing needs in general, the reference to a housing demand need assessment, HDNA, is very simply a local authority-led comprehensive assessment of the housing needs of its area, in other words assessing the housing expected to be built within the area, including in rural areas. In a nutshell, what the NPF is really calling for is a properly planned approach to identifying, meeting and managing the real housing needs arising in rural areas. There is nothing to fear in it. Like Senator Lombard, I believe in balance when it comes to planning throughout the country.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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If I ever go back to college I will do a thesis on rural planning.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I was thinking as much. You have a great knowledge of it, a Chathaoirligh.

I compliment the Minister on his comprehensive statement which hits all the key points. In particular, I welcome his determination that social and economic links will be very much a part of the national planning framework. That is a welcome statement from the Minister this morning. It provides the necessary clarity and it gives certainty to those people who are concerned. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister and thank him for his contribution.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister and Senator Lombard. The Minister gave the Senator a comprehensive answer which has made him smile. I hope he is happy with it as well.