Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department does not have a definitive breakdown of house completions either by type of purchaser or whether they were second or holiday homes or intended for renting. However, with the unprecedented demand for housing, fuelled mainly by rapid economic growth and demographic changes, being the major driver of house price increases in recent years, it is clear that there has been significant activity over this period by investors and owners of second properties. This is to be expected in a growing economy and can offer gains in terms of the supply of private rented accommodation, tourist accommodation or revitalisation of areas.

My Department has recently issued rural housing guidelines, which acknowledge the trends for development of holiday homes in some coastal, scenic and lakeside parts of the country. These emphasise the importance of clustering some tourism driven activity as far as possible in well designed and appropriately scaled developments in or adjoining small towns and villages. The guidelines also call on planning authorities to closely monitor and respond to development trends in relation to holiday homes in rural areas to avoid negative impacts on the ability of persons with links in rural areas to provide permanent housing for themselves at reasonable costs.