Danny Healy-Rae
Kerry · Independent · Ireland
“I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about post offices. First of all, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and the Government for giving them financial assistance this year because they do need it. Like every other Member, I appreciate our post office network.”
“People should not be sent elsewhere to bigger towns because there are no longer banks in villages and it is very important for people to meet. Social interaction is so important with people. People are becoming very lonely in rural places because they do not meet as much as they used to at the creamery, the shop or the pub.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill and giving us the chance to discuss the possibility of a united Ireland. Since I was a young fella, all I ever heard was that was what we needed and that we could not stop until it was achieved. There is so much involved in this.”
“We hope that we will retain the post offices because as has been said here, the post office, the school and the GAA club are so vital for retaining the identity of parishes throughout the length and breadth of rural Ireland. We hope we will retain the post offices in Kilgarvan, Kenmare and Glenflesk.”
“We want that for the people of the North of Ireland as well but we must have the conversation as to what will be the story for all the different things. We must be united in this Chamber and the people of the Twenty-Six Counties must, by and large, be in favour of reunification. We need to hear their views.”
“We must be united here in this Chamber for a start, each and every one of us. We cannot be throwing Scud missiles across the Chamber at each other. We need to have a united front. This is a serious business. We need to know where this will lead us.”
The complete record
Every one of 737 lines we hold for Danny Healy-Rae, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 9 of 15.
“This is a very important debate. Men are slower to go to doctors than women, especially men on their own. I know that when men have wives and partners, they see after them and make them go. Men are tough and they persevere with pain, and they often let themselves go. I have known of too many cases where they waited too long, and they were at stage 4, where little could be done for them. I saw a man who eventually jumped out of his machine and sought help, but it was too late. He stayed at it too long. He was a great man. There are fellows milking cows and even younger men who are waiting to be called in the public system. What I say to those fellows who are waiting is this: if the wait is too long when something important is diagnosed by their GP, they should put their hands in their pockets themselves.”
“We must get people interested in and appreciative of the Presidency, give the President a good role and ensure that he or she plays an important part in the political well-being of the country.”
“That is all right, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will not name names but many people feel a certain other lady should have had a chance to run. I regret, as others do, that certain people did not get a chance. The likes of the man I mentioned did so much to secure the Good Friday Agreement and for the well-being of our country. It is regrettable that he did not get a chance. He would have been a sound operator on the worldwide stage. We must do something different the next time. I know it is seven years away but we need to start planning now. I ask that the Government do that and take note of the fact we need to change how this is done to make the Presidency more relevant and get a larger number of people interested. It has been said that turnout in all the constituencies is expected to be very low. That shows that people are not interested.”
“I welcome this debate. Something has to change. I wish all the candidates on the ballot paper the very best. Like a lot of others, I am of the view that the chance to run for President must be opened up to many more people. The current system is very confined and, as we have seen, it is determined by a few people as to who can run. The local authorities were to have an opportunity to endorse people but members were restricted by their party hierarchies to ensure they could not vote for Independent and other candidates. I do not like naming names but many people regret that the likes of Bertie Ahern, who we spoke about here last night regarding his role-----”
“We must be fairly sure that what we are doing is going to work and that we do not antagonise anyone or push the thing back any further. What happened in Scotland was mentioned. We need to be sure about all of that. We all need to work together. I thank Sinn Féin and everyone else for this debate. If we are not united on this, we have no hope of going any further.”
“We do not want to go back to what was. When I went to the North today, there were no checkpoints. Even before we started getting good prices for cattle, Northern buyers were coming down and they boosted the marts in Cahersiveen, Castleisland and Macroom. We appreciate that very much, and they are very welcome. We must ensure for all the people on the island that if we do merge - a united Ireland is as much my ambition as it anyone else's - that there will not be a reduction in living standards for anyone in any part of the country. We need to have many debates. We must appreciate all of the people on each side. Whether unionists or hard republicans, all sides must be heard and all communities must be listened to. We cannot rush it.”
“When the twin towers were blown up, I can remember where I was. I can remember exactly where I was when the Good Friday Agreement was announced. I thank the people that took part in and secured that agreement because there was give and take on both sides and a lot of give on both sides. I thank everyone involved and I will name a few of them. I thank Ian Paisley, David Trimble, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, John Hume, Bertie Ahern, Albert Reynolds, Charlie Haughey, Garret FitzGerald, Bill Clinton, George Mitchell, John Major, Tony Blair and many more for giving such great attention and securing the move away from the bloodshed and awful times that people, mainly in the Six Counties, suffered over that period. It is grand to see that people can get up in the morning, go to work and live normal lives, as they do now.”
“I was in the North today. I travelled through four counties early in the morning. It is a grand place with grand people. Like Deputy Michael Collins, I thank the consultants and staff in Kingsbridge Private Hospital for the great care they have taken of all the patients we have sent up for cataract removals, hip and knee replacements and all the other things. They are very careful and have treated our people we have sent up with great respect. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I have been here for a long time listening to the debate. It is great to have it because we think of all the battles and all the trials our people have gone through over the last couple of hundred years. What I remember most are the Troubles, which took place from 1968 to 1998. All of us can remember when certain things happened in our lives.”
“I am asking the Government to look at this because the houses are there, which is half the battle, but getting people into them is the other part of it. There is work on that. We will work with the Government if it goes after something like that because the houses are there. We would help tell the story to the house owners and get them to bite the biscuit.”
“If it is the case that landlords cannot see it is worthwhile to put money into a house, the house depreciates, and it is no longer a vacant house, but becomes a derelict house. I thought we could have a separate tax for rental, which they have in other countries, like 20% rather than these people paying 50%. If the house stays vacant, the Minister will get 0%. I want the Government to look at that. We have the Ukrainians. It is a great scheme where they are getting €600 paid tax free to the landowner to house them. Can we do something like? We must see after our own people, too. I am asking the Government to look at this because there is any number of vacant houses out there and any amount of people could be housed if we went at it right.”
“We need to keep that. I thought it could be brought in at the start of January. I am disappointed that it is not and that we have to wait until July. I do not know if all the businesses can hang on. They are thankful for the proposal and hope they can hang on until it comes into place. I am disappointed with the way vacant houses are being dealt with. I see someone paying rent and the owner of the house only has one or two houses, they do not have a company or anything, and they finish up paying 50% tax. There is no enticement in that. The other problem they have is, if they want their house back in a year or two, they are worried they cannot get them back. We have houses all around us that are vacant and here we are putting a tax on vacant properties. There is an old saying that you cannot get blood out of a turnip.”
“I hear that money has been given to Uisce Éireann and I am appealing to the Government to get around this, put shoulders to the wheel and ensure this permission is granted and Uisce Éireann provides the water. They cannot move; the local authority will not give the permission if the volume of water is not increased. I ask the Government to look at that. We thank the Government for the reduction in the VAT for hospitality. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, and I fought very hard for this for the town of Killarney and the impact around the Ring of Kerry. With the great hospitality product we have in our county, we are the leaders in tourism, I would say. I do not think anyone would contradict us on that. We need to protect that for the amount of workers and all that is at stake for the spin-off and the whole lot.”
“If we came from a place like Deputy Willie Aird, in the middle of the country, if he travelled 75 miles in any direction he would have the whole of the country practically covered but that is not the case in Kerry. We have a problem in Kenmare. No estate for private housing has been built there in 20 years. The first problem we had was there was not a treatment plant. You could get one-off houses all right, or the local authority got permission to build a few houses but because of our treatment plant being overburdened, there was no permission. Lo and behold now, we have two applications pending, with 169 houses in total. They went out for further information and the question is, where are they going to get the water?”
“It was the Minister's predecessor, Leo Varadkar, who brought that in when he was Minister for transport in 2012. On affordable houses in Kerry, we do not have that scheme in Kerry. God almighty, it costs the same to build a house in Kerry as anywhere else and maybe a lot more at times because some parts of Kerry are very remote. It takes a long time, if the Minister can imagine, to go from Killarney to Dingle. It is an hour and a quarter, and the same from Killarney to Cahersiveen, which is another hour and a quarter. If you go back to Valentia Island, it is another three quarters of an hour beyond that and down into the heart of Ballinskelligs there are awful journeys. People are doing great to live in these places at all because they are far away from services. To buy anything, they have to travel half the country.”
“We cannot get planning because of this strict urban-generated pressure rule that is depriving so many people who are building houses in their own land. Farmers' sons and daughters are accommodated and listened to but their neighbours next door out in the country, who never lived in a town, are being deprived of planning permission. This would not cost the Government anything. In actual fact, it will get money out of it because the materials they will buy and the tax they will create - income tax or whatever from fellows working - will generate rather than cost money. Likewise, have over 100 km of national primary routes going through our county. You cannot access a new site, even through an existing entrance, because of the rule that is there since 2012.”
“We are not valuing them half enough. On self-employed people, one part of the jigsaw for them - it has been promised for many years - is when they get sick, they have no allowance or help to look forward to and they have to try and keep the wheels turning, whether it is the wife or the family. We need to see after those people because they are employing workers and keeping their individual projects going. I fear for those people. I am told that even if you have public liability for all your employees, you are actually not covered at all yourself. You cannot get public liability to cover yourself if you are the operator or the man in charge running whatever business it is. You are not covered by public liability yourself. We could do a lot for housing. In Kerry, there are simple things.”
“On respite, I have raised respite here several times in this debate already. I feel for the families who are caring for either a brother, sister, mother or father or someone in the family and they cannot get away for one week in the summertime like everybody else, and they really deserve it. While we appreciate what is being done for carers, there should be no means test applied when you are caring for someone. It will be done in the course of this Government and we hope that it will because we have so much need for carers. The country depends so much on carers. The burden on the health budget would be much increased if we do not see after them. When you are a carer, you are actually living the life of the person you are caring for because you have to build your days, hours and minutes around those people.”
“We have a new community hospital built in Killarney and the question is, when is it going to open? So much else is dependent on it. We need a primary care centre in Killarney and the grounds are there. If the old district hospital is closed down and patients go into the new one, and the St. Columbanus Home is closed down and is part of the new community hospital, they can be used for things like the primary care centre. A minor injuries clinic is vital for Killarney. At times, there could be up to 10,000 people in Killarney during the summertime and with regard the amount of pressure that is on the general hospital in Tralee and the accident and emergency at different times, much of that burden could be lightened if we had the minor injuries clinic in Killarney. I am asking seriously for that.”
“I thank the Minister for being here this evening to hear our requests. We need to thank him for the money that has been allocated. People will say there is a budget every day but the budget is about being fair. I know that Government has tried to do its best and to be as fair as possible. There is a complaint out there in a lot of people's minds that the working-class people, workers with rising costs and everything, were maybe left behind a bit and we need to address the issues of housing. People who want to build their own houses are having severe difficulty. I will start off with health. In Killarney, we have a new district hospital. It is built. When you allocate all this money to the HSE, it is about following up where the money is going and how it is spent in the individual sectors the HSE is in charge of.”
“I fear for the north Kerry grain men who have been growing grain for years in Ardfert, Ballyheigue, Kilmoyley and Causeway. All of these great men have been tilling over the years. When I was a young fellow my father and myself used to go up there for beet and straw. It is vital that these people keep going-----”
“It is absolutely ridiculous to think that people can come along and sell Irish whiskey which has other grain making it. The Government will have to do something about this. It is not fair. The Government must ensure that our farmers get the primary role in producing the grain. When our name is used, grain should only be imported or used if we cannot provide it. These farmers are in savage competition for land and with regard to the pricing and the cost of everything. Everything is increasing. When grain is being imported we are increasing the carbon footprint we are all supposed to be adhering to. God Almighty, we are all under the one sky whether the grain comes from Ukraine, Russia or wherever. It is produced under the same sky so the same rules should apply all over the world.”
“I am glad to speak about the grain and tillage section of our farming. Grain and tillage have been, are, and always have to be a vital part of our agricultural landscape. We met grain growers and they gave a very concise, interesting and serious presentation on the plight they face. They told us the number of farmers going out of the business and how many will go if something does not happen. It is not fair that they do not have a level playing field. If the grain coming in from Europe is not grown using the same costly methods we ensure our farmers must use, we will have to level the playing pitch on our side. We will have to make it easier for them to comply if we cannot do it any other way, and if we cannot ensure the Europeans, or those from wherever the grain is coming from, are operating the same standards.”
“Was it the cement? Was it the stone? What went wrong in the making of them and how is it so widespread? A load of concrete can go wrong somewhere if something causes it but tonnes and tonnes of concrete went into these blocks and they all finished up in a mess. It took a bit of time before they fell apart. Was it done deliberately or what happened? We need to be told that. What was the cause of the bloody thing in the first place? People have lost their homes and have been out of their homes for many years. We do not hear of anyone being chastised or brought before a court or anything as a result of what happened.”
“I am glad of the opportunity to contribute to this debate as well, as I have many times in the past. I cannot understand how this is going on for so long but I heard the Minister of State say the different things that hold it up. I hope it is full belt ahead to ensure the people of Donegal, Mayo, Clare and any other affected area get the redress scheme and their homes back in order, as they rightfully should have. It is great to see everyone uniting from Donegal, Mayo and Clare. A lot of time has been given to these debates. I cannot visualise what went wrong in the first place. We have concrete blocks in Kerry. Mike Jack Cronin has been making them for years and the Casey brothers have been delivering from Rathmore for years. There was not a word about anything wrong with concrete blocks. I cannot understand what went wrong.”
“That is what I am hearing from them. They will forget about renting privately, whatever else they do. The Department has to review this because it is not fair. Will tenants be locked into the six-year agreement? I know that the tenants want to move around too. They have to follow their jobs, but they cannot continue to travel. We know the cost of travelling, and we are told about carbon emissions and all that. Will the Minister of State look at this issue again, particularly as what is happening is hurting a lot of people?”
“I am afraid this will blow up altogether in the next couple of months because everyone is sending out notices so they will be clear for 1 March. That is my concern and why I have raised this matter today. I am afraid that what is proposed will not work. I have the history. There is no stir on the 55 houses along the road from Kenmare through Kilgarvan to Killarney. The reason is the owners will not enter agreements because they are afraid they will not get their houses back. Another reason is that they would have to pay half the rental income in tax if they had some other income. This will affect the people with one, two or three houses. They will not be bothered to go ahead with renting as soon as the existing tenancies end. They will be out of the market. Whatever they do with the houses, they will not rent them at all.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much for being here so late at night. I know she will relay my concerns to the Minister. Many people, including me do not believe it is fair to lock a landlord into a rental agreement for six years. This failed in Scotland, where the authorities have gone back to the arrangement they had in 2016. I am concerned about the Minister of State’s figures because, to me, having been a public representative in Kerry for over 20 years, I have never seen the like of what is happening, including to the 14-house estate in Killarney, and there are many more of those. Day after day, I hear about affected girls with one or two children and couples with two or three children. Every day, they ask where they should go.”
“The housing officials in the Department of housing who came up with this idea did not do any good for tenants and would-be tenants in the first place, and they are doing no good for the Government because it is putting it down in the ratings. I know this because people are fed up. They cannot rent houses. We are shrinking the market and will have far fewer houses to go around.”
“The Government should have been doing something about that rather than shrinking supply, meaning we will not have houses for other people. There are many people who would build a house if they could get planning permission in Kerry. They cannot do so. There are many who would buy a house but cannot because the prices are exorbitant. They are confined to renting in the private market. We need the private market as well as public housing, including social housing. People cannot get on the social housing list because of the income cap, which is €37,000. If they exceed this, they will not be left on the housing list. It is the divine right of a house owner to do what they want to do with the house and they should not be made to something they do not want to do. The Government will not succeed in this.”
“If they want to move to Killarney from Tralee, or vice versa , they will not be able to get houses there. We are shrinking the landlord market when we should be increasing it. Last year and the year before, I raised the issue of there being so many vacant properties. House owners and landlords will not rent properties for two reasons: the amount of tax they will have to pay, amounting to more than 50%, and fear they will not get tenants out when they want to get their houses back. I gave the example of 55 houses from Kenmare through Kilgarvan to ten miles down the road to Killarney. They are on the side of the road and each and every one of them can be reached by bus, but the owners will not rent them because of the two reasons I have given.”
“I have been contacted by many people and it seems some small landlords are getting out of the market completely because they do not want to be locked into a rental for six years while others are using this opportunity to renovate their properties and get new tenants at a higher rent after March. I have already been in contact with the Minister regarding the 14 families in the Loreto Chapel estate in Killarney who have received notices to quit from the property owner, the Cypriot property company Xerico Limited, which owns the 14 houses in the estate. I have asked the Minister what can be done for these families because it is very clear that these people are getting out before the March deadline and that these rent controls are having an adverse effect. Supply will drop with these rent controls. Tenants cannot move.”
“The overhaul of residential tenancies legislation was intended to protect tenants through changes to rent controls and the expansion of tenant protections. However, it is very clear that, since the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2025 updates were introduced in June 2025 with the intention of stabilising rent prices, they have created a bigger problem as many tenants have been given notice to quit. It is getting completely out of hand. I am contacted every day by tenants who have got notices to quit and who are wondering where they are going to go. It is very clear that landlords are getting out one way or another. They are not prepared to sign up for a total of six years from March onwards so they are getting out before then.”
“It is important to those people that they have a routine and that they are looked after, taken out of bed and put sitting in a chair or taken to the bathroom or wherever they want to go but too often it is not happening for these people in Kerry. I am asking the Minister of State to listen to us because those people with disabilities have a role to play. They are part of us and we want to ensure that they are properly looked after.”
“We should be giving them better assurance and reassurance that their children will be seen after. These children may be in their late 40s or early 50s. It is a fierce worry to their parents. Many people are allocated home help but while they are allocated the time, nobody turns up because we are told that we do not have the home helps. There are many instances where one home help goes to the home and they cannot operate the hoist on their own. That is happening too often and it means people have to stay in bed for an extra day. That is not right because they seize up. We would all seize up if we stayed sitting down long enough. We would not move after a few days.”
“I ask the Minister of State to look at that. There are 40 or 50 acres of grounds that could be expanded. There could be all kinds of different respite there. It should be developed as a model for the rest of the country because the room is there to do it and the basics are there already. There are swimming pools and all the different things that are needed for people with disabilities. One thing that hurts me very much is when I see elderly people minding their elderly disabled children. I am talking about people in their late 70s and early 80s. The question they have for me is: who is going to see after our Johnny, Mary or Julia when we are gone, because they are on their last legs? I feel for those people because they are doing their best all their lives.”
“Carers, daughters and sons caring for their elderly people who have disabilities just wanted to go on holiday for a week but there was no place for respite in any of the district or community hospitals. They were all full. People with a disability are entitled to four weeks of respite in a community hospital setting but that does not materialise. In Kerry it does not happen. We have a wonderful place, Mary of the Angels, in Beaufort, which was donated by the Doyle family many years ago. That has been closed by stealth because as people died, the beds were never filled again. I cannot understand this. At the same time, we are offered only places in Tipperary or Meath for someone who needs new residential care. It appears that they will not be left into Mary of the Angels. I cannot understand that.”
“I want to thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this very laudable motion on the cost of disability. We all know it costs any person who had a disability more just to survive and carry on. They have a lot of issues. For people with serious disabilities respite in Kerry is practically non-existent when it is needed. We are very short of residential care places for children with intellectual and physical disabilities. I can highlight one case where a person in her thirties in serious need of residential care was offered a place in County Meath all the way from County Kerry. That is absolutely ridiculous. We are still short of respite beds on the southern side of the constituency. I had this all summer.”
“I ask the Government to deal with this urgently. Further information is being sought on these applications. I ask the Government, whether the Government as a unit, the Taoiseach, the Minister for housing or whoever it takes, to get down there and get it sorted out.”
“I ask the Government to do those things. There has been no private estate built in Kenmare for 20 years. Imagine that. They were held up because of the sewage treatment plant. Some €40 million has now been spent. There are two current planning permissions for housing developments comprising a total of 169 houses. Permission is being refused because there is not enough water in Kenmare. Even though we are surrounded by water, lakes and everything and it is raining most of the time down our way, we do not have adequate water for new estates. I ask the Government to address this. The Government has given more money and more ammunition to Irish Water in recent times. I ask the Government to deal with this urgently because people are leaving Kenmare, Kilgarvan and Sneem because they cannot buy a house anywhere.”
“For the most part, it is a case of voluntary housing bodies buying up the estates being built or building estates. These homes can never be purchased. People understand that. That is not what everyone wants. Some people are happy to rent but most of the people I know want to eventually be able to buy out their house. However, that is not allowable with the rules we have now. I ask the Government to get the local authorities building because they did it very effectively in the past. They spread the people out around the different parishes. In places like Scartaglin or Currow, we do not even have a treatment plant. No more housing estates can be built in Moyvane, which is very near Tralee, because the treatment system is not up to standard. I hear that the Department has got more money or is in the process of getting it.”
“I cannot understand the logic behind it. The local authority got the money back for the house it built, which then went towards building more houses. For a long time in Kerry, it was used to deal with voids. There was no delay in voids being brought back into use. That has stopped and I ask the Minister of State to look at that because it is very important. We were going well when we were able to do things like that. That is not happening now. People have a need. In the intervening time, they were happy to live in the house they rented from the council but their ambition was to keep it well and to eventually own it when they could. That was always their ambition. I ask the Minister of State to please look at that because it is very important. If there is extra money now, the Government should look at new ways.”
“That is not happening at all now. I have heard the Government say that it is has allocated money to the local authorities to buy or build houses but it is not happening. I ask the Minister of State to get after the local authority. At that time, people were getting rural cottages. Those rural cottages are not being built at all now. People were so glad for the councils to build a house for them on their own site. When they got their legs under them, the first thing they wanted to do was to purchase that house so that they would own it. That is not allowed at all now. No house built by our local authority in Kerry since 2016, whether a rural cottage or a home in a housing estate, can be purchased. People need and want this. Owning your own house is something we have prided ourselves on for generations. I ask the Government to look at that.”
“That is all he will get, however. That cap is totally wrong. A cap of €37,000 is not high enough. It should be something like €57,000 or €60,000 considering what it costs to build a house in today's world and what rent costs in Kerry. In the surrounds of Killarney, you are talking about €1,600 to €2,400 a month for a house. That is serious money. People need help to do the basic thing of keeping a roof over their heads. I ask the Government to look at that threshold. There are a few other things we need. When the country was going good enough, 20 or 30 years ago, when the local authorities were building houses, they bought sites in different places like Gneeveguilla. I appeal for sites to be bought in the likes of Gneeveguilla, Currow and Brosna where the council could build four, five or ten houses every couple of years.”
“Where people want to get on the housing list because they see they cannot build or buy a house, a couple's income must be below a cap of €37,000 or they cannot get on the housing list. I know of a man and a wife with ten children who are failing to rent a house and his income is over the threshold to get on the housing list. He cannot get any housing support at all. I have asked the Minister for housing to deal with that and whether he has any discretion to allow a man, his wife and their ten children on the list. It is not often we hear of that size of family now but they are to be applauded. They have reared the children so far. They have to hand over the house they are in because the man needs it back to put in his own son. It was to be vacated by the end of September but he got an extra couple of months.”
“They might have a site or be able to buy one that is very local to them but they are prevented from building. I have asked the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other Ministers to address that issue and to do something about it because it is very unfair. They are asking for nothing but planning permission. We should do our best to help them. In Kerry, we have over 100 km of national primary and secondary roads. You cannot build a house where the exit leads out on to such a road. That stipulation has been in place since 2012, 13 years ago. Many people's plans have fallen by the wayside because they could not get permission even where there was an existing entrance. I ask the Government to deal with that.”
“There are many things preventing them from doing so. People who want to build a house for themselves should be applauded and helped in every way in the world but we are preventing them. As I have highlighted before, there are two planning stipulations preventing a lot of people from building houses in Kerry. One is the urban-generated pressure clause. This is meant to stop people coming out of a town or other urban setting to build out in the country. However, that same clause is affecting people who never moved into a town, who live outside of one and who want to build a house near their father and mother. I am not talking about farmers’ sons and daughters. They are being catered for. By and large, they are being seen after. This category of people could be living next door to many of those, however.”
“I am glad to have a chance to mention a few issues this. Housing, as we all know, is so important. There is so much talk about it and so many people are not able to be housed. I understand the Bill is to borrow more money to build more houses and to provide more housing. If this is the case, I welcome it. I have stated here in recent weeks that many people are leaving our shores because when they are between the ages of 25 and 32, they realise they cannot buy or build a house for themselves. They are at a stage when they have to decide. When they were younger, they were happy and carefree but when they intend to settle down, what they need the most is a house. While the budget addressed many things, it did not help the working-class people who are trying to come up to the mark of buying or building a house.”
“There are two planning applications, the results of which are to be known shortly. Councillors are citing that they do not have water. The Government has allocated money to Irish Water. I ask that this money be allocated right away to Kenmare in order to enhance water supply. No houses have been built by the private sector in Kenmare for over 20 years. First, we did not have the sewerage system. More than €40 million has been provided to improve that. The obstacle has been cleared, but now we find out that they have no water. They have known this for over ten years. I appeal to the Ministers with responsibility for water to take action in order that these 169 houses can be built in Kenmare. That is the number between the two applications. It is being held up. I ask the Ministers to get involved. I am pleading with them.”
“I have highlighted this here several times. There are other planning restrictions. There are over 100 km of national primary and secondary roads in Kerry that you are not allowed to get planning permission to exit onto, even though there are entrances there already that were created by other family members in the past. That needs to be changed. It was brought introduced in 2012 when Leo Varadkar was Minister for transport. That has to be got rid of. We have another situation in Kerry where the new bypass is to be built. Much of the land around Killarney, going through Kilcummin and Farranfore and all that side of the country, has been sterilised. Farmers' sons and daughters cannot get planning permission in those areas. Will the Ministers look into those things? There is a big hold-up in the building of 160 or so houses in Kenmare.”
“Many of them give up their lives and dedicate them to family members or other people who need help and who would not survive without it. It is the nature of politics that we have to continue to ask. I have asks in relation to people who want to pay for and build houses themselves. We need to do much more for working-class people, because highly educated, talented people are emigrating. The thing making them go is they cannot see how they can come up to the mark of buying or building a house for themselves. We could help them in places like Kerry. We could do something about these clauses that stop them getting planning permission on sites local to them or their own sites. If you are a farmer's son or daughter, you will get planning, but not if you are out the country and want to get a site next door to you. You are not able to get that.”