A Programme for a Partnership Government contains a reference to the housing shortage on page 19. We all know what is happening in respect of housing. There are people in Kerry who are being deprived of the right to build their own houses on their own land by one serial objector. In all of these cases, Kerry County Council had granted planning permission. However, the objector in question has appealed all of the council's decisions to An Bord Pleanála. Even though inspectors have visited sites and decided that planning permission be granted in line with what Kerry County Council has ordained, An Bord Pleanála then refuses said permission. The people who made the applications are left without houses or without the opportunity to build houses for themselves. They cannot afford to buy houses in towns such as Killarney, Kenmare or Dingle, nor can they afford to seek judicial reviews. What is the Taoiseach going to do about these serial objectors?

I thank Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. His time is up and we will now find out the answer.

Approximately 18,000 new homes were built last year and we anticipate that 22,000 new homes will be built this year. Of the 18,000 built last year, some 3,000 or 4,000 were one-off homes, mostly, but not entirely, in rural areas. This means that people are obtaining planning permission and that those in rural areas are still able to build houses, as should be the case. There is a planning process, however, and that must take other important factors into account. People are entitled to object to a council if they do not believe that permission should be granted. They are also entitled to appeal to An Bord Pleanála if they do not agree with the decision of the council. I do not know if it is feasible in a democracy - and this is a democracy - to bar people from objecting to the granting of planning permission if they wish to do so.

These people cannot build the houses to which the Taoiseach is referring. What is he going to do about serial objectors?

Order, please. I call Deputy Eugene Murphy.