Gaeltacht groups and students hold protest outside Dáil over housing crisis

Demonstrators gathered at the gates of Leinster House this afternoon to protest the repeated delays and lack of progress from the Government in tackling the current housing crisis in the Gaeltacht regions. 

The demonstration comes as the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage opened discussion on amendments to the Planning and Development Bill 2023. 

Speaking today, Dónall Ó Cnáimhsí, Spokesperson for the Meitheal Náisiúnta Pleanála Teanga, said:

“From Waterford in the South-East to Donegal in the North-West, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the people of the Gaeltacht to obtain planning permission in their own localities. People have planning permission refused on the basis, according to local councils, that they don’t have a ‘local need’ and the definition of what constitutes a ‘local need’ is continually narrowing and constricting.”

“This means that young couples cannot obtain planning permission in their own local areas. Furthermore, this contradicts the Government’s policy in relation to language planning, as set out in the Gaeltacht Act 2012. If people from the Gaeltacht are unable to live in the place where they grew up, what is the use in talking about language planning?”