Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae has said "far greater urgency" is needed to address the "growing difficulties" facing people trying to build homes in rural Ireland.

Deputy Healy-Rae spoke after confirmation from the Department of Housing that a new planning statement relating to rural housing is currently being prepared.

“Rural planning is becoming one of the biggest frustrations facing ordinary hardworking people right rural Ireland," the deputy said.

"There are young people, working families and couples who have genuine local housing needs, who want to live near their families, farms, workplaces and communities, but they are being met with obstacle after obstacle when it comes to getting planning permission.

“While I welcome confirmation that a national planning statement on rural housing is to be published this year, I believe far greater urgency is required because the current system is simply not working for many rural people."

Deputy Healy-Rae said that rural Ireland "cannot survive" if local people are "effectively being prevented" from building homes in their areas.

"We need to see a far more practical and common-sense approach taken to rural planning," he said.

“Those who have been born and reared in rural Ireland and are capable of looking after their own housing needs should be facilitated in doing so.

"In counties like Kerry, one-off housing is part of sustaining rural communities, schools, GAA clubs, local businesses and family life."

He said that the current planning system is "far too restrictive" and in many cases is "completely disconnected from the reality" of rural living.

Rural housing

Minister for Housing James Browne has said he intends to publish a national planning statement in the second half of 2026 that will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing.

"My department is currently preparing a draft statement for government approval, to be issued under section 25 of the Planning and Development Act of 2024 in order to provide consistency in the approach to rural housing across the country," he said.

The statement will "expand on the high-level spatial planning policy" of the National Planning Framework, in particular on national policy objective (NPO) 28 which relates to rural housing.

"This objective makes a clear distinction between rural areas under urban influence, where the policy approach is to facilitate new rural housing for those with a local rural housing need, and wider rural areas where there is greater flexibility to build single rural housing," Minister Browne said.

"NPO 28 is also aligned with the established approach whereby considerations of social or economic need are to be applied by planning authorities in the assessment of development proposals for new one-off housing in rural areas under urban influence."