Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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152. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he has examined the existing restrictions in respect of meeting the housing needs of the indigenous rural population in view of the urgent necessity to encourage the building of more houses, thereby enhancing the housing stock and relieving pressure on the urban housing programme and taking into consideration good and sustainable planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35585/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Rural Housingpublished by my Department in April 2005 set out the national policy framework for planning authorities in drawing up their statutory development plans in relation to the issue of housing in rural areas, taking into account local circumstances and the type of area involved, including areas adjacent to large cities and towns that require careful management of development pressures and other rural areas experiencing population decline.

The Guidelines require planning authorities to frame their planning policies in a balanced and measured way that ensures that the housing requirements arising from rural communities are met, while avoiding excessive urban-generated housing and ribbon development in areas adjacent to cities and towns . The Guidelines also aim at ensuring that sites being developed for rural housing are suitable with regard to access and wastewater disposal , and also from landscape and design perspectives.

It is a matter for individual planning authorities to prepare their development plans and the policies contained within such plans, taking account of local and varying geographical and landscape circumstances, as well as the approaches set out under the Guidelines in relation to rural generated housing. It is also a matter for planning authorities, as well as An Bord Pleanála, to implement the Guidelines and local planning policies in assessing and deciding on individual planning applications and appeals under the development management consent process.

My Department maintains a constant overview of the practical implementation of all statutory planning guidelines, including the 2005 Rural Housing Guidelines. I intend to keep the Guidelines under review, particularly in view of the commitments in the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness – Rebuilding Ireland, which aim to accelerate the delivery of housing in order to address the current housing supply shortage and the projected housing needs over the coming years. The Action Plan indicates that achieving this aim will contribute to wider objectives, including the need to support sustainable urban and rural development and communities.