Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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123. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if it is recognised that local authorities need to facilitate the housing needs of the indigenous rural populations, thereby contributing to the housing stock enabling such families to provide a home of their own in their native place without contributing to the pressure adjoining urban areas; if such requirements can be met under existing legislation or if legislative change is required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2329/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department published Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Rural Housingin April 2005, which 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 near large cities and towns, which need careful management of development pressures and other rural areas experiencing population decline.

Under the Guidelines, planning authorities are required to frame their planning policies in a balanced and measured way that ensures that the housing needs of rural communities are met, while avoiding excessive urban-generated housing and haphazard development in areas near cities and towns. The Guidelines also aim to ensure 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 Irelandwhich 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, contributing to wider objectives, including the need to support sustainable urban and rural development and communities.