I welcome the opportunity to comment on this large and detailed Bill. The Minister has failed to secure any movement towards resolving the housing and planning crisis. This failure means that the six year national development plan will not work. The ideas put forward in the Bill, while plausible and interesting, will take so long to implement that much time will be lost.
There is an extraordinary shortage of planners, architects and specialised staff. As you are aware, Sir, there are plans for three by-passes in County Monaghan but, unfortunately, because of lack of time and ability by the consultants they are still only at preparation level, with no signs of progress within the next 12 months, or even within the next few years.
The whole planning area is very complex. County development and regional development plans must tie into the national development plan. That is good, provided the problems encountered by the different parts of the country are taken into account at national level. Counties Cavan and Monaghan contain drumlin areas with many small hills and bending roads which create many problems for planners.
There is a major crisis in housing. A colleague told me of a friend who took occupation of a house six months ago. He had made commitments to it six months earlier when the house was valued at £65,000. A person buying a similar house in the same kind of private development, not in the same locality, would have to pay £105,000 today, which represents an increase of £40,000. The only short-term answer to the housing crisis is to provide more local authority housing. It is the only way to take the pressure off and ensure that house prices do not escalate out of control.
Young people are entitled to their homes. There is no way that a couple, both of whom have reasonable jobs, say, a garda married to a nurse – it could be a ban garda married to a male nurse – could obtain a mortgage to buy a house. Given the current inflation rate and the likely increases in interest rates, young people must be more wary. Some have been getting their friends or family to put up some of the money to enable them buy a house. These extra commitments leave them in a very difficult situation, even at today's low interest rates. If rates were to increase dramatically, many young families would face a serious crisis. One only has to recall what happened in the UK a few years ago when many people had to sell their houses, at an extraordinary loss, to live.
The housing situation is no different in my County Monaghan than anywhere else. There is a sizeable increase in the demand for planners. Approximately 730 planning applications were submitted in 1996. That had increased to 1,132 for 1999. So far this year approximately 250 to 260 applications have been submitted. As you are aware, Sir, many of these applications are no longer for single houses or for developments of town houses, but for large scale developments. Some are for outline developments of 100 to 120 houses. Unfortunately, some of these requests are tax driven because of the changes in taxation which allow for the sale of the land by the owner for a tax benefit. They may not even lead to the building of houses in the immediate or foreseeable future.
These developments are putting extraordinary pressure on planners, yet they may be of no use to meeting the housing needs of the country in the short or medium term. In the last few weeks my council decided to increase the number of permanent planners. We looked for executive planners with some experience but did not receive a single application. Unless this situation can be eased worthwhile developments will not take place. Some businesses in my county may have been lost because of delays in the planning system. This has arisen through no fault of the planners but because of their extraordinary workload.
Planners are generally doing a good job. This is evident from the improvements in the villages, the urban renewal schemes and task force moneys. However, these developments take time with the result that the number of planning applications does not present a true picture of the demands placed on planners. A lot of extra work has been placed on them, especially in the Border area, with special schemes for villages and urban renewal. I welcome that, but it is all the more reason we must ensure that there is an increase in the number of planners and other personnel if the benefits of the Celtic tiger are to spread to all areas.
Serious consideration must be given to the impact of family break-ups on the housing sector. I have encountered problems here, not only in my constituency but also when canvassing recently in Dublin South-Central. Often three or four bedroom houses have only one person living in them while other family members are housed in flats or other houses. The Minister must give serious consideration to how this problem can be addressed. If young couples are to be provided with cost effective homes it is not sensible to have many three or four bedroom homes with single occupants.
Many elderly people in rural Ireland are living alone and are getting freebies, such as electricity and telephone usage. If they were to allow part of their homes to be turned into flats it would ease some of the pressure on housing. There is a fear that these people would lose out if this were to happen, but it would be much better for them to have young people or young couples living with them.
Third level participation rates in education are among the lowest in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. This is partly because no third level education facilities are provided to any serious extent with the result that students from the constituency must travel elsewhere and stay in flats or otherwise. It is becoming a serious problem.
On the Order of Business Deputy Currie referred to the decision by An Bord Pleanála to curtail large developments. I welcome the general thrust of the decision. In County Monaghan we have tried to ensure that shopping centres are located in the centres of towns and not on the outskirts. We decided at council level that, when the three bypasses were constructed for Carrickmacross, Castleblayney and Monaghan town, they would not allow for shopping centres or other such developments being built near them, that the town centres would be retained as shopping areas and would not be damaged by out of town development. It is important that the decision made by An Bord Pleanála is extended to other areas to ensure that genuine retail development is allowed, and that whenever large supermarkets wish to locate in a town or area, they do so in sympathy with the environment of the town.
I am concerned about some of the contents of the Bill. If a person wishes to object to a planning application, under this Bill he or she will have to do so at the outset. Anyone with experience of the planning process knows the plan submitted to the planners and the council as part of a planning application is not necessarily the one granted in the end. Some development may be removed or changed. It is only when the final plans can be seen by those interested in them that they know for certain if they need to lodge an objection. Under the Bill, a person would not even have the right to object to An Bord Pleanála if he or she had not objected initially. This will lead to a great deal of unnecessary objections. The cost is not the major factor, rather the technicality.
I had experience of a situation recently of a young couple who took the trouble to drive to their county town to examine plans which affected them and were satisfied that they were acceptable. They found some months later, that a new developer had moved in and was going to build housing next to the couple's front door. When the couple investigated, the original plans were again shown to them and they pointed out that that could not be possible. It was checked and found that a number of changes had been made, possibly legally and above board. It is very difficult to be certain that plans are being adhered to. This couple came to me to point out their serious concern that their property would lose a great deal of value as a result of this development. In introducing this law, we should be careful to ensure it is workable.
Planning in rural areas is something which is regulated under the county and national development plans. I objected sincerely to some of the rules included in our county development plan, but I was assured they would be used with commonsense. However, it does not always work out that way. There is potential for development close to towns, but if a land owner has developed more than two houses, he will have great trouble in developing his land further. This is not right and, if I am still a member of the county council in future, I will have this rule changed, if possible. If we are trying to encourage rural development, then it is important that people live in rural areas.
The agricultural college in Monaghan is being closed and others are under threat. The likelihood of young farmers taking up the business as we knew it in rural Ireland is diminishing quickly. I was part of a committee which recently met economists who were eager to advise us that, over the next eight years, 40% to 50% of existing farmers will no longer be in business. If we are to maintain rural structures, keep parishes alive and keep young people living, going to school and playing football in rural Ireland, we must have a commonsense approach to development in rural areas, especially close to schools, churches and other centres of activity.
There was a new development by the GAA recently in my parish of Aghabog. That is a tremendous move forward. The local school, which was lying derelict for some years, is being developed for many other purposes, including caring for the elderly. It is an opportunity for people to live and avail of services there. However, if the rule is that the farmer living next door to those amenities can only build two houses, then commonsense and reasonable development cannot continue.
Extraordinary additional demands are being made of builders of private houses. In County Monaghan, the soil is drumlin soil and is difficult to work with. I understand that we must ensure that sanitation is provided in the best possible way, but all types of different demands are being made. I would not mind if those were placed at the time of the original application, but applicants are not advised of some of them until after, which means long delays in the processing of applications. A system needs to be put in place in Monaghan, where two thirds of the poultry and mushrooms in the country are produced, to deal with waste. That would alleviate the demands being made of private house owners. The phosphate in the water is obviously being caused more by farm pollution than by private houses. Will the Minister ensure that every assistance is given to use the waste material? The EU is in the process of granting a licence for a power station and heat provider and I want the Minister to do everything possible to ensure that proceeds. Our planners are eager that this would be done.
The Minister has tight regulations covering listed property. While I do not oppose those, if people are forced to maintain listed property in a proper condition, they should be given adequate funding for that. I encountered a situation recently where an aged couple were forced to ensure their house was safe and habitable, but when they sought funding, they were advised that, unless the maintenance was carried out in a specific way, they would not receive funding, which itself was limited. If we insist on people maintaining old buildings, which are important to the nation, it is important that people receive funding for that purpose. The building in Rossmore Park had to be demolished years ago because of the extraordinary rates on it. It would have been a gallant public representative who would have said at the time that it should have been maintained and made rate free. He or she would have lost a seat very quickly. However, we have lost very important properties in that manner and the Government must ensure proper funding is made available.
Proper funding should also be made available for the reconstruction of houses. My colleague on Monaghan County Council, Pádraig McNally, called on the Minister some time ago to reintroduce the reconstruction grant. He received the full support of Monaghan County Council. That grant is essential and I know the Leas-Cheann Comhairle would support Monaghan County Council's wishes to have the reconstruction grant reinstated so that many rural village homes could be developed.