Mattie McGrath slams red tape in rural housing and sewage crisis
Mattie McGrath criticised red tape, planning restrictions and local authority pollution in a speech on 10 May 2022, arguing these problems are fuelling a rural housing crisis. He called for radical change, saying planning officers, high charges and bureaucracy are blocking housebuilding and leaving families without basic facilities.
Sewerage and pollution concerns
The speech singled out local authorities as major polluters and referenced the Glanbya plant in Kenney and objections on Tashka. McGrath said many villages in Tipperary are waiting for sewerage infrastructure while raw sewage reaches streams and rivers and described EPA sampling practices as "a disgrace."
Planning and building barriers
McGrath criticised planning officers for intervening in densities and imposing conditions, arguing such interference worsens the housing shortfall. He said heavy taxation and charges - roughly "near 40% or 40%, 45%" in his words - deter small builders, who now often refuse to quote for new homes because costs have exploded.
Housing shortage and family hardship
He described a sharp shortage of rental properties in his area, with notices to quit and landlords reclaiming homes to sell. McGrath gave a stark example of a family living in a single room with no cooking facilities and a child forced to eat cornflakes from a bowl on the bed, calling the situation "a nightmare for people."
Calls for systemic reform
McGrath urged a "huge sea change," arguing that current grants and conversations with the Construction Energy Federation - including building in Dublin - are not addressing rural need. He warned that continued red tape and bureaucracy make meaningful progress unlikely and pressed for cuts to charges and a radical rethink of housing and infrastructure policy.
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I do want to compliment the motion here tonight, and Minister, I know you're new and can't blame you for all the ills, but we're punishing farmers, we're punishing people, we saw the Glanbya plant in Kenney, and the objections on Tashka, when the single biggest polluter in this country are local authorities, right up from Mizzenhead to Donegal, down to West Cork, everywhere, I could name 25 villages in Tipperary, waiting for sewerage infrastructure, belching raw sewerage into streams and rivers, EPA come out, they go above the plant, and take the samples, it's a disgrace, and you penalise people then, people want to build houses then, and they build them, and they can, and their own land, oh you can't get planted, umpteen conditions on top of it, and Deputy Murphy's right about the officers planning, we've never had them before, and we managed fine without them, so why do we need him to be dealing, interfering in densities, and whatever else, in the middle of a housing crisis, when we want to build houses, and people want to build houses, cut the taxes, cut the bet, I think there's somewhere near 40% or 40%, 45% the government takes back, off of people who are trying to build, the explosion in the costs, most small builders now won't build a house, won't quote you for a house, because they can't afford it, so, the merry-go-round goes on, and they're not being delivered, full stop, and I have my offices inundated, with people being, with notices to quit, and with people, landlords taking back the houses to sell them, and it's unbelievable, there's only a number of five or six properties available in the whole of Countess Tipperary, it's a nightmare for people, I was talking to a priest today, about a family, who are living in a room, a child this morning had to eat, this isn't a village in Countess Tipperary, he had to eat the cornflakes, off his bed, in a bowl on the side of his bed, no cooking facilities, go down in the streets, they have a refrigerator, that's all they have, so, I mean, we need to change the way we do things, and instead of that, your government will be totally out of touch, pile on more, talk to the Construction Energy Federation, give them grants to build houses in Dublin, it's not working, we need radical change, we need a huge sea change, and we must get it, and Minister, I don't see any possibility, with the amount of red tape and bureaucracy, it's crazy.
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