I am glad to get this opportunity to raise a few issues that are preventing people from obtaining planning permission to be able to do the most basic thing in life, that is, to build a home and put a roof over their heads. At a time when the Government is struggling to house massive numbers of people who are on the social housing list and people from other countries who are fleeing wars and conflicts, it is ironic that the Government and its agencies are doing their level best to prevent people building a house which does not cost the Government a cent.

They actually contribute to the Exchequer with the VAT and other tax collected from them.

A short few weeks ago I asked the Taoiseach in this Chamber about the restrictions preventing people from getting planning permission where they wish to have exits from their houses and where an exit already exists onto national primary and secondary roads in Kerry. The Taoiseach agreed with me at that time that a blanket ban was not the correct way to administer restrictions that were put in place back in 2012 by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, and signed by the relevant Ministers, one of whom was Deputy Varadkar. This forced councils to administer these restrictions on national roads with speeds of more than 60 km/h. We have more kilometres of national roads than most counties, with 100 km of national primary roads and 300 km of national secondary roads. We have more than most counties and others have motorways and their former national roads are now regional roads, for which these restrictions do not apply. We have no motorways in Kerry and the Ring of Kerry road was built in the 1800s. In the 2015 to 2020 county development plan, we agreed exemptions with Transport Infrastructure Ireland for some of the secondary roads but it objected to these in our new 2022 plan. The sons and daughters of farmers cannot get planning permission if their exiting roads are not in the charge of the local authorities.

The planning regulator has insisted that under the new county development plan, more areas are to be designated to be under significant urban influence. These areas are expanded, which means that many applicants who have been born in or lived in an area for all their lives cannot get permission to build homes there. Where are these people to go? They are over the income thresholds for social housing and they cannot afford houses on sites in towns like Killarney, Kenmare, Killorglin or Dingle. Where are they to go? I am asking the Taoiseach what the Government will do to help these people.

The Government will have to do something about anonymous objectors. They should be made to identify themselves and they should have to pay a more realistic fee. With the way application and building costs have gone, €20 is not enough. They should be charged from €500 to €2,500, and maybe that would make them cop on a bit.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of housing and I want to report some encouraging news on housing to the House. In recent days we received from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, the housing commencement figures for April so we know that the number of new homes that started construction in April was 10% higher than in April of last year. Just since New Year's Day, more than 10,000 new houses and apartments started construction in Ireland, and I am increasingly confident that we will be able to meet, if not exceed, our target of 30,000 new homes being built in Ireland this year.

We also know from the numbers that house prices are falling and have been falling for the past six months in Dublin, which is encouraging. We know that more than 400 first-time buyers are buying their first homes every week, the highest we have seen since the Celtic tiger period. That is almost certainly an underestimate because it does not take account of the fact that many first-time buyers are couples, which are counted as just one person. It is encouraging to see that progress and I am happy to share that information with the House.

I was in Tipperary on Friday and spent the day around the county. I had a chance to open a social housing development and to speak to members of the council, council staff and people working in the community information service there. They said they are seeing a huge interest and increase in people contacting them about the vacant property refurbishment grant. This is an important and useful innovation by Government, giving people grants of between €50,000 and €70,000 to bring homes back into use. They might be homes in our towns and villages or they might be homes in rural areas and I would encourage people to look at that as an option. It does not always have to be a new build. Renovating or bringing back into use derelict and vacant buildings makes a lot of sense and I want to encourage people to take up that grant. We also offer the help-to-buy scheme for people who are building their homes.

In terms of one-off housing, as the Deputy knows, it is always about getting the balance right. We want people to be able to build a house on their own land or their family's land if they have a genuine local need or reason to live in the area, but we need to balance that with environmental concerns, such as increased commuting and the higher cost of services if people are more sparsely spread out than if they are living in areas that are more densely populated. There are thousands of permissions granted every year for one-off housing. I believe the vast majority of planning permissions are granted. I cannot remember the exact figures, but the vast majority are granted.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, has particular responsibility for the planning area. He may want to come back to the Deputy with some more information and detail later on in the day or during the week. I am not aware of the issue of anonymous objectors. I will look into it. I did not think it was possible but I will double-check and if it is we will review it. I would have thought that anybody making an objection would have to give their name. We will double check that.

Does the Taoiseach want to blackguard me and the people of Kerry with the answer that he is after giving me there, because he answered very little of what I asked? He travelled to Tipperary and other places and talked about goodies that he says he is carrying around the country. I am talking about the Ring of Kerry and the national primary and secondary routes where people are totally denied the opportunity even to apply for planning permission. They cannot apply for it. The Taoiseach agreed with me the last time I raised this that a complete ban was the wrong way to go. He promised that he would do something about it and he would talk to someone. He has talked to no one and he does not want to do anything about it.

The other issue that I have raised was the expansion of areas that are under significant urban pressure away out from towns like Killarney, Kenmare and Kilorglin. People cannot get planning permission in these places to build a house for themselves to put a roof over their heads. The Taoiseach is standing here presiding over this. He signed the directive into law back in 2012 when he was either Minister for transport or the environment - one or the other. He gave the powers to Ground Investigations Ireland, GII, to stop people from using existing entrances. This is what the Government is doing in Kerry, and in most of Kerry between the national park and the national roads. There is another road that has not been built at all yet. There are four different routes. The Killarney bypass project is still in abeyance, all the people in that area cannot apply for planning permission and the Government is doing nothing about it. I have raised the issue several times, and what does the Taoiseach come back with? That he was in Tipperary last Saturday or last Friday. He should stay in Tipperary or stay up here, because he does not want to know anything about Kerry anyway.

Different rules apply in different areas for different reasons because we have different local authorities. There are also areas that are under special amenity area orders and areas that are under urban pressure. I do not want to come back to the Deputy with an inaccurate response. There are different rules in different places for different reasons. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, is the Minister of State responsible for planning. I will ask him to come back to the Deputy directly over the course of the week, and specifically on the issue of the use of existing entrances. I agree that there should not be a blanket ban where there is an existing entrance. There is a difference between using an existing entrance and a new one. I will come back to the Deputy on that.