Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
375. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the priority being given to native Irish speakers in application for planning permission and the purchase of houses in Gaeltacht areas. [2980/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs set out in Delivering Homes, Building Communities, my Department will publish a National Planning Statement in H1 of 2027 in respect of housing in Gaeltacht areas.
Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provided that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage could issue guidelines to planning authorities regarding any of their functions under the Act and planning authorities were required to have regard to those guidelines in the performance of their functions.
That section was repealed on 2 October 2025 as the planning system transitions to operate under the new legislative provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024.
Section 25 of the Act of 2024 provides for a new form of planning policy and guidance known as a National Planning Statement. This provision was commenced on 2 October 2025 and therefore future planning policy and guidance from the Minister will issue to planning authorities in the form of a National Planning Statement. It is intended that existing section 28 Guidelines, which will continue to operate until replaced or revoked, will be replaced over time by National Planning Statements, along with any new guidance that the Minister intends, with the approval of Government, to issue.
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.
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, a finalised draft National Planning Statement will be assessed for the purposes of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA).
The Planning and Development Act 2024, sets out the obligation for local authorities to prepare strategies and include objectives, which must be addressed in the drafting of their Development Plan, governing local development policies in respect of any Gaeltacht area. Where there is a Gaeltacht area within the planning authority’s administrative area, the development plan strategy must include objectives for “the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage, including the promotion of Irish as the community language”. Where a development plan sets out settlement-specific objectives in respect of any Gaeltacht area, 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.
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 the preparation of housing strategies that have particular regard to the needs of Gaeltacht residents, and ensuring that development propos9als in Gaeltacht areas have a positive impact on the linguistic and cultural heritage that can be robustly assessed at planning application stage.
