Danny Healy-Rae urges two-year extension, attacks planning regs
Danny Healy-Rae spoke on 29 Jun 2021 about extending planning permissions delayed by coronavirus and insisted on at least a two-year extension. He criticised planning designations and regulator interventions in Kerry that he says block one-off houses and village development.
Extension demand
He called for a two-year minimum extension of time for developments not completed because coronavirus delayed building work. He argued the extension is necessary to protect projects held up by the pandemic.
Urban-generated pressure restrictions
He outlined how "urban-generated pressure" designations prevent people from building outside towns and villages, limiting permissions to family members in those areas. He said this forces people to buy inside towns where prices are exorbitant in places such as Killarney, Tralee and Dingle.
Sewerage infrastructure and village growth
He warned that many villages lack sewerage schemes and therefore cannot expand or permit one-off houses, naming Braster, Asti, Skatidlin, Castle Island and Korra as examples. He said regulators and local authorities are effectively telling residents they have no options.
Regulator intervention in local zoning
He criticised a regulator who overruled local council zoning decisions, citing an example where a municipal council zoned a few acres for housing but the regulator stopped it despite local approval. He argued local planning applications should be allowed to stand on their own merits.
Closing position
He urged either generous zoning or none at all, and for planning applications to be assessed without onerous special designations that, he said, unfairly prevent people from putting a roof over their heads.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
First of all, I'm glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important bill. An extension of time for two or more years for developments that may not have been completed and where the coronavirus caused buildings to be held up, certainly we have to ensure that there's two years of an extension at least. We have a lot of problems in Kerry, Minister, in relation to planning and in relation to the building of houses, and while Dublin has its own different problems, we have our own different problems down very much so in Kerry. We have designations like urban-generated pressure, which is to prevent people from a town or a village building outside of the town or village. And on top of that, it is hot in the people in those areas as well that live there all their lives, only family members can get permission in these urban-generated pressure zones. And you could have someone living next door all their lives, brought up there, they won't be considered for permission at all, even if they get a site from their neighbour or from their friend or whatever at a reasonable price. They are condemned to a building or buying inside in a town or village where the prices are exorbitant, and that's the truth of Killarney and Tralee and Dingle and other places, you can't go outside where you could get a site, and this is horting ornery cobbles that just want to put a roof over their heads. There is another quarter of people being denied as well, because in villages like Braster, Asti, Skatidlin, Castle Island, Korra, we have no, it's a pity you break up in the middle, our change guard in the middle of one's presentation. You have, many villages and towns don't have a sewerage scheme, yet the regulation is saying you can't build one-off houses out in the country, you must build inside the town, and you have places like Braster with no sewerage plant, you have places like Korra, as I said, and all those villages can't expand, they can't develop, because they don't even have a sewerage scheme. And you're telling the people, the regulators coming down and telling people, and telling the local authority that he can't allow one-off houses here or there and put in special designations, that's very unfair and hard on people, because they have no options, and he must realize that. Maybe you don't know it, because you're a Dublin deputy or whatever, and that's fine, but you don't understand what's happening down in Kerry, and the regulator comes down, after the wise councillors, even in the Killaritan Municipal Area, they zoned some two or three acres for Mick O'Connell, the most famous footballer of all time. They granted him zoning to build three houses, the regulator came down, he didn't even, he sent down a message, he didn't even know where Belinch Island is, and he stopped him of building, of zoning the land that the council voted for, that's very, very wrong. I say to you, zone plenty land, or don't zone any land, let every planning application stand in its own two feet. Thank you very much.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
