Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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167. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if consideration will be given to allowing members of the public to make observations on subsequent planning applications on the same site in a five-year period without paying the €20 fee, where the member of the public has previously made an observation, given that the cost of commenting on repeat applications can be significant to the public. [6255/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I have no plans to reduce the €20 fee payable by members of the public for making submissions or observations on planning applications, including successive applications for development on the same site in respect of which other planning applications have been made in the previous 5 years. The amount of the fee for this purpose is relatively low having regard to the administrative and other technical costs of processing each individual planning application and is intended to prevent frivolous or vexatious submissions, without deterring anyone with genuine concerns or an interest in relation to a proposed development from making submissions.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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169. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to change the existing planning laws which restrict planning permission in rural areas to couples and persons with direct links to the specific area in which planning is being sought; his views on whether such a policy is counter productive in view of the fact that there is little or no housing available in urban centres or available sites on which to construct a house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6303/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The 2005 Planning Guidelines on Sustainable Rural Housing, issued by my Department, set out the national policy framework for planning authorities in drawing up their statutory development plans in relation to rural housing, taking into account local circumstances and the type of area involved, including are as 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.

I intend to keep the 2005 Guidelines under review, particularly in view of the commitment in the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness – Rebuilding Ireland to accelerate the delivery of housing in order to address the current housing supply shortage and projected housing needs over the coming years, contributing to wider objectives, including the need to support sustainable urban and rural development and communities. In this connection, my Department is consulting planning authorities about modifying the Guidelines to ensure that rural housing policies and objectives contained in development plans comply with Article 43 (Freedom of Movement of People) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. On conclusion of these consultations, my Department will engage with the European Commission on proposed changes to the Guidelines, with a view to issuing updated Guidelines to planning authorities on the matter in due course.