Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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124. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which facilities are available to meet the housing needs of the indigenous rural population throughout rural Ireland by way of ensuring an adequate number of houses in keeping with good planning principles to facilitate in so far as is possible the indigenous needs of those living in rural areas thereby reducing the impact on housing lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25145/17]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Based on ESB connections data, around half of the 15,000 new homes completed last year were one-off houses, mainly built in rural areas, which account for less than 40% of the national population. The high proportion of overall national house-building taking place in rural areas points to the degree to which indigenous communities in rural areas are being facilitated in meeting their housing needs in those rural areas, with a degree of overspill development from cities and towns as well.

In addition, my Department’s Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Rural Housing (2005) are designed to ensure that planning authorities strike a balance between managing the future of rural areas from a development perspective and at the same time enabling housing requirements of rural communities to be met. The Guidelines set out how planning authorities should frame their development plan policies for the different types of rural areas which may exist within the development plan area, which range from rural areas close to cities and towns at risk of overspill development and remoter areas with low levels of development pressure and consistent patterns of population decline. The Guidelines also set out policy advice on issues such as access to appropriate wastewater treatment facilities, potential impacts of the development on groundwater, landscape, natural and cultural heritage and addressing road safety issues (e.g. frontage onto national roads).

I am satisfied that a sufficiently flexible and robust policy framework is in place to ensure that rural communities can meet their housing needs.

I also recognise that the major shortfalls in housing provision are in our larger cities and towns and that it is in and around these key locations that we must focus our efforts to boost supply, as outlined in the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, to avoid driving unsustainable overspill development in rural areas as a result of undersupply in urban locations.