Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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136. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he will publish the revised guidelines for rural housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23344/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing for All plan is linked to the National Planning Framework (NPF), which fully supports the sustainable development of rural areas and the need to ensure that they continue to be viable places to live, work and invest in. The NPF aims to support the overall rural pattern of development in Ireland and deliver strengthened and diversified rural communities consistent with Our Rural Future, the National Rural Development Policy 2021-2025.

Since the publication of the current Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in 2005 (which continue to have effect in addition to subsequent clarifications and national policy changes in the NPF) there have been important changes to our planning system. Most notably, obligations under European Directives and international agreements relating to the management and protection of the environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change have become more central to the operation of the planning system.

Updated Rural Housing Guidelines are currently being prepared by my Department. The updated guidelines will expand on the high level spatial planning policy of the National Planning Framework (NPF), in particular on National Policy Objective (NPO) 19 which relates to rural housing. This objective makes a clear policy distinction between rural areas under urban influence (i.e. areas within the commuter catchment of cities, towns and centres of employment) on the one hand, and structurally weaker rural areas where population levels may be low or declining, on the other. NPO 19 is also aligned with the established approach whereby considerations of social (intrinsic part of the community) or economic (persons working full or part time) need are to be applied by planning authorities in rural areas under urban influence.

The draft Rural Housing Guidelines will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing, based on the high level policy framework set by the NPF. The guidelines will continue to allow county development plans to provide for housing in the countryside based on the considerations detailed in NPO 19 of the NPF, and will also highlight the need to manage development in certain areas, such as the areas around cities and larger towns and environmentally sensitive areas, in order to avoid over-development.

While planning policy is a national, as opposed to an EU competence, due care is being taken to ensure the updated guidelines will not operate to conflict with fundamental EU freedoms, comply with EU environmental legislative requirements and have due regard to decisions of the European Court of Justice. The draft planning guidelines will address these complex environmental and legal issues, while also providing a framework for the sustainable management of housing in rural areas.

The draft guidelines are currently subject to legal review and Ministerial approval, following which it is intended that the draft guidelines will be published for a period of public consultation.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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137. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of meetings he has had with directors of housing to discuss their readiness for phasing out of the voids return programme. [23531/23]