As Cabinet prepares to review long-delayed rural and Gaeltacht planning guidelines, Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD has called on ministers to ensure the rules are fair, sustainable and responsive to community needs.

The Dublin Mid‑West TD said the framework must support growth in rural, Gaeltacht and Island communities while avoiding a return to past planning failures. He made the comments ahead of Cabinet consideration of the long‑awaited proposals.

Deputy Ó Broin said: "Sinn Féin has long argued for rural, Gaeltacht and Island planning rules that meet the needs of local communities. We need a planning system that allows our rural, Gaeltacht and Island communities to grow and flourish.

"It has taken Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael a decade to produce these draft guidelines. Meanwhile, communities have experienced population stagnation and in some cases decline.

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"There can never be a return to the bad old days of completely unregulated planning. What we need is a set or clear and fair rules that allows people to build and renovate homes in rural, Gaeltacht and Island communities in a manner that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.

"On the basis of the media reports to date there are some positives, some negatives and some glaring omissions in the Government’s proposals.

"Greater use of back land development and family clusters would be a welcome development. So too would the inclusion of services in the definition of economic need.

"However, the Gaeltacht proposals appear over restrictive and have been rightly criticised by campaign groups. In our view language should also be included in the definition of social need.

"I am also concerned that to date there has been no mention of the Islands, whose communities are also in need of greater planning certainty.

"The draft planning policy statement must be subject to Oireachtas scrutiny and public consultation, and Government must be open to amendments where necessary. Government must get rural, Gaeltacht and Island planning rules right.

"Government must also significantly increase funding for the delivery of social and affordable homes and serviced sites in our rural, Gaeltacht and Island communities; and assist the SME builder developer sector in these communities to deliver more private homes for working people to buy. This is the only way to ensure that those communities' housing needs are met."