Danny Healy-Rae Challenges Planning Rules That Block Rural Homes
Danny Healy-Rae raised problems with planning that stop rural people, especially young couples, from obtaining permission to build homes and criticised serial objectors who overturn local council approvals. He argued that young people are being denied the basic right to put a roof over their heads and urged action on planning decisions and rural infrastructure.
Planning and rural housing
Danny Healy-Rae outlined how planning guidelines and designations prevent young couples and rural families from getting permission to build on their own land. He described cases where Kerry County Council granted permission but objections led to refusals on appeal, leaving applicants unable to build.
Examples of overturned approvals
He gave specific examples including the late Sean Sweeney, a man from Mukherjee working six kilometres away in Libors, and families in Lara Copper and Greencar who lost permissions after distant objectors appealed. He warned that serial objectors and restrictive designations are denying people the right to live beside family and to leave the parental home.
Village infrastructure and sewage problems
He criticised advice that people must move into towns when many villages lack treatment plants and proper infrastructure, citing places such as Kilcumen, Castle Island and others where septic tanks remain widespread. He said moving people into towns is impractical where sewage treatment and services are not in place.
Government response and legal references
The Taoiseach acknowledged the rural point but argued locating in villages is sound for services and resource use, and raised national water-quality concerns. The Taoiseach said the government intends to increase funding to Irish Water to prioritise sewage treatment for towns discharging raw sewage, and noted legal and designation challenges may be contested in future.
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Thank you very much Ceann Comhairle, Taoiseach, I'm glad to get the opportunity to raise with you here in the chamber problems that exist for people wishing to attain planning, basically to put a roof over their heads, the basic right to do that, and the guidelines that planners have to give recognition to, which disallows young couples getting planning permission. And also to highlight the problem that we have one or two serial objectors in Kerry that have, even though the Kerry Coddick holds grant permission, this person appeals it to the board and it always seems to happen that the planning permission is refusing. I'll give you the example, in Tom is the late Sean Sweeney and because he went on television, that's why I'll name him, he went public about it, he fought too near to get planning permission for his son, it was given by Kerry County Council two or three times and it was objected to and refused, that man didn't yet get planning. A man from Mukherjee got permission from Kerry County Council and this serial objector objected and he was working six kilometres away in Libors and he made that objection and he lost his planning permission. Another McAfee family in Lara Copper, they had 365 acres all in SAC, but Kerry County Council in their wisdom granted permission. But on Taske, someone 72 miles away appealed this decision and the decision was lost and they never got permission and the young fella that wanted to leave beside his mother after his father dying was denied that right. Lara School is in trouble, Lara School is in trouble, a couple from Greencar, this residency, this rural settlement policy, you see, is denying several people, a couple from Greencar, they're only two miles from Kiladden and two miles from Beaufort and it was a massive struggle to get permission in Beaufort even though they were only two miles away from there. You have, you have the industry, he has sent us to build in the villages and the towns, but with places like Kilcumen, no planning, no treatment plant, sewerage treatment plant. you won't get permission there and yet the place is practically desolated Cora was promised in 1986 Scott and Lynn, myself and Tom Fleming who was a deputy here as well it was number 3 on the list now it is on no list and Castle Island, half the town of that mass of town is in septic tanks but to say that people should move into towns that's wrong to Taoiseach because they don't have the infrastructure there and to say we must appreciate young couples who go to the trouble of building a house for themselves as we know the cost and the trouble it takes to build social houses for people who can't afford to build a house for themselves but the trouble is to get planning in many instances we must do something about it Taoiseach well first of all I thank the deputy for raising the issue and at one level I can understand the deputy's point in terms of rural life, rural populations and young people on their own land not being in a position to get permission at that level one can empathise particularly given the price and cost of housing today that they are finding it very difficult to secure planning permissions on the other hand the advice to locate in villages is sound advice too and why is it sound advice? because I think it's close to services and from the state's perspective then the best economic use of resources is to build up the infrastructure in the towns your point is valid that where towns don't have sewage treatment facilities well then that presents an additional difficulty we considered the EPA report yesterday for example at the Climate Change Cabinet Subcommittee we're down to about 20 clean rivers in the country now that's not the fault of housing that could be the intensification of agriculture it could be whatever but we've gone from about 500 rivers in pre-stain conditions to 20 now we all need to reflect on that as we all seek exemptions and changes and so on to me it's a very serious situation in terms of groundwater and in terms of the quality of our rivers and when you look at the thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of septic tents all over the country you begin to see that we have a lot of work to do to clean up our rivers and to improve significantly the quality of our waters and what I intend to do and the government intend to do is to further increase allocation of funding to Irish water to make sure that for instance as a priority that any town that is currently destroying sorry that is that is discharging thank you raw sewage into rivers or harbours that we work to make sure they have a sewage treatment plant in place about 35 at the moment that should be an immediate priority and I think that would enable us then to make sure that people would find it easier to live in villages and in towns across rural Ireland and I think that's something that I'm very committed to doing now because I don't think we can hang around too much longer with raw sewage being discharged into rivers and into harbours and I think it's a very challenging issue and it's a serious issue I do take your point in some instances but you know we have a real problem now in terms of pollution and in terms of the environment more generally and the quality of our water supplies we have a problem in that many people can't get permission because of designations and the Fleming decree in Belgium seven or eight years ago proved the judge decided on their side that was wrong to have designations blocking people of getting planning permission and that's there before and that will be contested at some stage by someone and you let yourselves open for that you see there are weaker rural areas even take my own road from Loo Bridge to Morales Bridge four or five miles of a road there was 16 or 17 families there now you can't get permission there Tish and in one of those houses there was 16 weared in a cottage in an acre and that's the possible truth and you can't get permission along that now because it is part of a DED where the other side of it is stronger and it should be it's here it's in here guidelines that you have to take the DEDs together and and that's what's wrong in some there's another couple of townlands up to Shandramode there was 24 families there you can't get permission in these places now no one can come in and we're told that we must that we a lot of people have been told they could walk from home but they can't get sites and these places are wide open and they won't be left get get get get get planning permission there to see and and and and the virus the virus taught us that they're safer to work and even rural areas rather than flats or the patterns inside in this city or other cities why why don't he look at these he's been promising for four or five years now to bring in new guidelines and I'm asking to address these issues and where are the guidelines I've asked you to deal with rural Ireland and give them a chance to leave that thank you very much well I'm running in office six months deputy and I'll engage with the minister and see where those guidelines are and my own view by the way where there has been a history of habitation you know that there should be continued facilitation of habitation you know if there have been as you're saying 16 people living in one road for example and 16 and there was a clean in one house yeah yeah yeah and I've look I've walked the Boreans myself and I've seen dilapidated houses now and bigger and better houses built up adjacent to them and I often wonder why the dilapidated house wasn't retained then someone should take it over even if it's a county council and get it back into a reasonable state for somebody to live in so I'm into practical solutions but the highest environmental standards have to be attached I'm not in favour of serial objectors by nature I don't like that trend and that phenomenon because I think we've seen in forestry for example how that has led to terrible damage to an important industry and endangering jobs and endangering output as well in terms of construction but I do favour though I have to be honest the idea of concentrating development in villages and in towns I think that makes sense but I think to take up your point we then do need to build the infrastructure in the towns in terms of the sewage treatment plans and other facilities as well that would render the situation a more enjoyable one can you do anything about the serial objectors can you do anything about the serial objectors we live in a democracy Deputy I think it doesn't seem like that I think it does somehow and have them all over the country or you have your own version of democracy I'd say all right opportunity I think it is you can you see it is possible that you you know and you you I can you see tack I and I know that I can you be like I you I I W You got you I can you I can you I can you
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