Rental Sector
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Danny Healy-Rae (IND), Kerry

I ask again about the tenant in situ scheme. The Minister of State said money has been allocated to it. Will he talk to Kerry County Council to see what is wrong and why it cannot operate the tenant in situ scheme?
Elected members in Kerry have been asking the local authority to buy land banks to build local authority houses in small villages, such as Scotia's Glen, Gneeveguilla, Firies, Curragh, Currans and all these places. I hear the council is slow to buy these land banks because it will be hit with the residential zoned land tax. Is that right? That is serious. Where is the proposal to allow granny flats to be built behind residential properties? It was mooted about 12 months ago but nothing has happened since. Where is the proposal on modular homes? I do not see them materialising in Kerry. It was to be a faster way of delivering housing.
The problem, which I raise here continually, is that many people in Kerry cannot build a house of their own because they cannot get planning permission. Who is dealing with that? Is it going to be sorted out? It is time it was. God damn it but if these people go to the expense of trying to build houses for themselves, surely the smallest bit of help we could give them is to give them a fair crack at getting planning permission. This urban regeneration clause is causing severe difficulty far from towns where people who never lived in a town are being denied the right to build houses. Will the Minister of State please do something about those things?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-18