Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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481. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the timelines for the publication of the Gaeltacht planning guidelines; if each Gaeltacht language planning area will be supported to develop its own local housing strategy aligned with these guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34982/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended, sets out mandatory objectives for local authorities, which must be addressed in the drafting of their Development Plan governing local development policies. Where there is a Gaeltacht area within the planning authority’s administrative area, the development plan must include provisions and objectives for “the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht including the promotion of Irish as the community language”.

The Development Plans Guidelines for Local Authorities published in July 2022 give further guidance to local authorities, including reflecting the Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas (Limistéar Pleanála Teanga – LPTs as required under the Gaeltacht Act 2012) as well as the inclusion of further policies such as ensuring that development proposals in Gaeltacht areas have a positive impact on the linguistic and cultural heritage that can be robustly assessed at planning application stage.

An Interdepartmental Group (comprising my Department, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (DRCDG) and Údarás na Gaeltachta) is still continuing its work in developing specific planning guidance for Gaeltacht areas. There is also a separate Working Group made up of both Departments and Údarás na Gaeltachta and the relevant local authorities with Gaeltacht areas. Interdepartmental Group and Working Group meetings took place in 2023 and bilateral Departmental engagement continued into 2024 and is ongoing.

Having regard to the need to consider the complex matters involved and further to engagement with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, finalised draft guidelines will be subject to mandatory screening under EU law for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), as well as for the purposes of Appropriate Assessment (AA). It is intended that, in consultation with DRCDG, subject to the outcome of the screening exercises, the draft guidelines will then be published for public consultation.

In accordance with section 94 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 each planning authority is presently required to include a housing strategy in its development plan to provide for the housing of the existing and future population of the area. Each development plan applies to the whole functional area of the planning authority concerned, including any Gaeltacht area located therein, in accordance with section 9(2) of the Act.

Under section 95 of the Act planning authorities are required to ensure that sufficient and suitable land is zoned for residential use, or for a mixture of residential and other uses, to meet the requirements of the housing strategy and to ensure that a scarcity of such land does not occur at any time during the period of the development plan.

It is also open to planning authorities to prepare a local area plan for any Gaeltacht area located within their functional area.

The Planning and Development Act 2024 includes specific provisions relating to Gaeltacht areas, including that where there is a Gaeltacht within the functional area of a planning authority, the corresponding development plan for that area must include provisions and settlement-specific objectives for the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht including the protection of Irish as the Gaeltacht’s community language. Where a development plan sets out settlement-specific objectives in respect of any Gaeltacht, a ‘Priority Area Plan’ will subsequently be introduced for that Gaeltacht area to guide its development, renewal or regeneration and to specify how the relevant settlement-specific objectives in the development plan are to be implemented.

Language Planning Areas are a separate designation under the Gaeltacht Act 2012 and relate to language planning, for which my colleague the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht holds functional responsibility.