New guidelines around planning permission for homes in the Gaeltacht are set to be finalised and put to public consultation shortly.
The guidelines have been developed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
As well as that, planned revisions to the National Planning Framework will also be put to public consultation, in which members of the public will also be able to make submissions on planning rules in Gaeltacht areas.
It is understood that the aim of the guidelines are to make it easier to gain planning permission for housing in Gaeltacht areas, on the basis that allowing Irish speakers to continue living in these areas would constitute a “local need”.
In a statement, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage told Agriland: “The planning system in Ireland recognises the importance of the continued daily use of the Irish language, especially in Gaeltacht areas.
“Gaeltacht planning guidelines are currently being finalised and will be published for public consultation which will allow for submissions to be made,” the department added.
“The ongoing revision to the National Planning Framework will also be subject to public consultation in due course, which will allow for submissions to be made regarding the need for consideration of new or additional matters relating to Gaeltacht areas where they apply to strategic spatial planning policy.”
The Planning and Development Bill which is currently before the Oireachtas places an obligation on planning authorities to prepare, as part of a city or county development plan, a strategy relating to the creation, improvement, and preservation of sustainable places and communities.
This obligation includes a specific provision relating to “the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage, including the protection of Irish as the community language of Gaeltacht areas, in the functional areas to which the development plan relates”, according to the department.
The planning guidelines under the bill state that planning authorities should ensure their development plans have regard to the provisions of the Language Plan, developed under the Gaeltacht Act 2012, and should include objectives to support the promotion of the Irish language.
The move to give the public a say in the development of the Gaeltacht Planning Guidelines has been welcomed by a member of the Seanad.
Senator Victor Boyhan said that new planning laws “should make it easier for native speakers to build houses in the Gaeltacht”.
Boyhan said he would pursue amendments to the bill, which is entering committee stage in the Dáil.
“Gaeltacht communities have seen a slow and steady decline of native Irish speakers and want the native language to be viewed as a local need, in the same way as agriculture can be,” Boyhan added.