Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 507 of 11 March 2008, if he will provide a copy of the defence presented by his Department to the European Commission in respect of rural practice policies and practices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13624/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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On the basis of legal advice available to me, I am precluded from publishing or disseminating either the correspondence from the European Commission in relation to enquiries or investigations into possible infringements or the State's responses as these documents are regarded as part of possible legal proceedings. For this reason, I cannot provide specific details of my Department's response of 28 September 2007 to the issues raised by the Commission in its letter of formal notice of 27 June, regarding the "local needs" test for the granting of planning permission for one-off dwellings in rural areas.

However, once matters have been concluded and there is no longer any likelihood that possible proceedings could be undermined by the release of such documents, it is of course open to the Commission and the Department to release the correspondence. My Department will be pleased to make its papers available once the Commission has concluded its consideration of the issue and closed the case.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the validity of residency clauses being applied in respect of planning permissions; the Government policy in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13637/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines for Planning Authorities, which were published in April 2005, are designed to strike a balance between establishing a good planning framework for rural housing and facilitating those who are part of or have links to local communities who want to build a house. The Guidelines consolidate the approach on rural housing in the National Spatial Strategy which aims at supporting rural communities and providing a framework within which they can develop economically and socially.

Section 39 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides that a condition attached to a grant of planning permission for a house may specify that the house must be occupied by persons of a particular class or description (i.e. an occupancy condition), with provision to that effect to be incorporated in an agreement under section 47 of the Act.

The Guidelines make it clear that occupancy conditions are only appropriate in certain cases, such as permissions being granted in areas close to the larger cities and towns which are under strong pressure for urban-generated development, and permissions being granted to a permanent resident in an area where there is an over-concentration of holiday or second-home development. The conditions also normally specify that planning authorities can give consent to the occupation of the dwelling by a different person with the same category of need as the applicant.

The approach set out in the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in respect of the use of occupancy or residency clauses remains valid and I have no plans to alter them.