Danny Healy-Rae: Demands Houses to Save Dingle Communities
Danny Healy-Rae addressed the chamber on housing in Dingle and nearby Gaeltacht villages, urging the minister and Kerry County Council to build more social houses. He warned that tourist use of homes, vacant properties and planning obstacles are forcing people out and endangering the Irish language.
Main demand
He asked the minister to get Kerry County Council to build social houses in Dingle and said people should be able to purchase those homes later through a purchase scheme.
Villages highlighted
He listed smaller communities across the peninsula — Dunkeen, Ballyferreter in the Greater Munro Sibblieri, Vintry, Lisboa, Launascar, Camp Brandon, Clahan, Castle Gregory — and named Ballen Skellings, Port McGee and Interwaterville on the Yverar Peninsula as places needing housing provision.
Vacant houses and incentives
He noted many vacant houses and called for incentives to persuade owners to renovate and rent them out. He pointed to a scheme for Ukrainians that pays "600 tax-free" and said a similar payment should be available for Irish people to encourage local lettings.
Planning barriers
He criticised planning obstacles in the Dingle Peninsula and accused the planning regulator of intervening when councillors sought to zone land "for Mikko O'Connell and Vilinch Island," saying that interference prevents local people securing roofs over their heads.
Call to action
He urged the minister to compel the local authority to build housing, to address the planning guidelines the area has been waiting on for six or seven years, and to allow people to build houses for themselves to preserve community identity and the Irish language.
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Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion here before us this evening. And I want to welcome the gentleman from the Gaelkirk here to this evening. I know myself that housing is a serious issue in Dingle and I have people on to me absolutely nearly crying trying to source a house to rent. And it is a fact that many people are going through this day after day because there's a lot of houses taken up by tourists and the tourism sector is very important. But I'm saying to the minister here this evening, we need to build more houses in these places like Dingle. If we're serious about maintaining and preserving the Irish language, we need to build more houses so that people can stay there. I'm asking that he get after Kerry County Council to build social houses in Dingle. And if people want after a time, use the tin and purchase scheme to purchase these houses out. There are many other villages like Dunkeen, Ballyferreter in the Greater Munro Sibblieri, Vintry, Lisboa, Launascar, Camp Brandon, Clahan, Castle Gregory. And we have no plan for to build houses in these little villages to maintain their identity and to maintain the culture. Likewise, in the Yverar Peninsula, we have places like Ballen Skellings, Port McGee and Interwaterville. We need to build more houses in those places. And I'm asking the council to be, he to get the council to build those. There are many vacant houses, yes. And we must timp people that have vacant houses that are doing nothing at all with them. Give them some incentive to do up to them houses and to rent them out. We have a very good scheme for the Ukrainians. He'll pay 600 tax-free. And I don't mind that going to them, but we should do the same thing for our own Irish people. And that would timp people that have vacant houses into renting them, to our own people, because they are having severe difficulty as I outlined. Planning, because of the beauty of the place, it's impossible to get planning along the Dingle Peninsula. And people need a roof over their heads. And the cheek of their planning regulator, when councillors bought in St Kerry County Council to zone a bit of land for Mikko O'Connell and Vilinch Island, he stuck his nose into it and disowned it. Them are the kind of things that's happening to us here. I've been asking you day after day to do something about the planning for one of houses, to allow people to build a house for themselves. They're asking for nothing else. They'll build a house only to ensure that they get planning permission. And I'm asking as well now, again, Minister, get the local authority into building houses, because they're after giving up. And there's no asylum. And it's about time that the planning guidelines that we're waiting for the last six or seven years, there's no asylum yet addressing that issue. And I'm asking to do something about it.
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