I wish to ask the Tánaiste about the building of houses. Over the last number of years, scores of families have called into my constituency office with problems in this regard. Local need rules from 2005 are still in place. These rules prevent people from owning their own house. I hear from families who live in the countryside and have sites they got from their father, mother, granny or aunt and on which they are not allowed to build. I also hear from families living in villages who want to move to the countryside because their family has gotten bigger and the house they live in is too small. The local needs rules are preventing us from building these houses. Local authorities all seem to have different rules. I will say one thing. The Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, has done a lot of work on this issue in recent years, and I thank him for his work. I believe the EU will issue new directives in October this year. When can I tell these people the good news that they can build in their own community?

There is an ongoing conversation on the local needs aspect of the rural planning guidelines. We expect to see some movement on that in the autumn. To be clear, more than 6,000 one-off houses have been built every year in this country for the last several years, so many one-off houses are still being built. Each local authority is its own planning authority. The local councillors will vote through certain interpretations of local needs provisions, which will be different in each area. However, I believe most people with a social or family tie to the area and a local economic need are in a position to build their house. Some clarification on the rules around family and social needs will issue in the coming months.