Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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904. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has concerns that local authorities are preventing genuine farmers from building on their own lands (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11703/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Decisions made by planning authorities in relation to applications for rural housing are required to be in accordance with the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), having regard to Ministerial guidelines issued under section 28 of the Act, and taking into account the relevant statutory development plan, which in itself is required to be consistent with national policy.

Rural Housing Guidelines were issued in 2005 under section 28 of the Act, and my Department is currently reviewing and updating the Guidelines. 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 or economic 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.