I wish to raise two housing issues. If a person builds his or her own house but starts the work before applying for a council loan from Mayo County Council then he or she will not get the loan, which I think is crazy. If people have a certain amount of work completed and then decide they do not have enough of their own money to complete the work then they will not get a council loan. I have checked this matter with the relevant Department which says that this is probably the letter of the law but the local authority could find ways around that. I ask that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications make further regulations, or if there is a review by the Housing Authority that it would make recommendations, to ensure where a person is building a house but has some of the work completed and then decides to apply for a council loan that he or she will not be refused on those grounds alone. I ask that because if the house were put up for sale, another person could get a council loan to buy the house and finish off any work. It is crazy that one person can get a loan while another person cannot; therefore, the Minister should address the matter.

I refer to the reconstruction grant of €70,000 for old houses. The scheme has a very tight timeframe of 12 months to complete the work. I ask the Minister to review the regulations, or the Housing Authority if it reviews regulations, and look at this matter because 12 months is a very short period to start the work. There are quite a number of people who are afraid to start the work because they may not complete the work on time and, therefore, will not get the €70,000 grant or whatever amount of grant for which they would qualify.

I ask that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications examine these two very important housing areas. As I have outlined, they will not make any great difference but they make a great difference to the people who apply for either the loan or grant. As I think the Minister could immediately review these matters I ask the Acting Leader to bring them to his attention or arrange a debate on these matters.

I, too, want to raise a housing issue. I am very much a strong advocate that housing need amendments should reflect the rural circumstances for communities. I have continually raised the issue of rural housing and the need for rural housing. I am sure that the Acting Leader will understand that as she represents County Kildare because many parts of that county are very rural and urban. Today, I call on the Government to ensure that all local authorities are obliged to plan, deliver and support housing in rural communities whether it is one-off housing or small clusters of housing. We do not need everyone to live in larger towns or villages. We need to support rural communities.

We need to support families who have access to or own land on family farms that is suitable, as I have already mentioned, for housing. I am a member of the Oireachtas committee on agricultural as well as the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I know a good deal about this issue of local housing and the need for it in rural communities. I understand the issues of rural housing and the need also for greater support for the help to build scheme. It is an important support and should be available alongside the help to buy scheme. They are two distinct and different issues but they are both important and provide for a housing need that would reflect on the nature of the market, in particular, in rural parts of the country and provide practical support for those wanting to pursue the self-build option which many people wish to pursue in rural parts of Ireland.

Rural housing fund guidance should encourage community stakeholders and local authorities to enter into appropriate affordable housing opportunities at all stages of life and foster greater community cohesion. Again, this is a very important fact if we are to sustain our rural communities. People should be allowed to remain in or return to their rural community and their rural roots and I support that.

Issues around homelessness should be properly recognised in rural communities and in many cases that is not being recognised and the traditional answer is that we will send people into county homes. In latter years, however, they are sent into the towns where they do not feel that they belong, have a place or want to live and are not necessarily connected to these places. Even if they do not have family they have that connection with local community and local supports. Rural housing policy, therefore, needs to address depopulation, to deliver affordable housing options, support community development and cohesion, as I have said, and grow and sustain rural communities.

Geographic equity is important for everyone who has a right to have a home in their place of origin or where they choose to live. I would favour local authorities being provided with financial resources for a strategic site assembly to secure land sites in particular priority areas.

Finally and I will close on this, the housing infrastructure fund has the potential to identify, resource and secure small infill sites in rural communities and I ask that we have a debate on these issues. I thank the Cathaoirleach.

I welcome the students from Swords, Scoil an Teaghlaigh Naofa Sinsear, who are here in the Gallery. They are very welcome and are guests of Deputy Farrell. I had the pleasure of meeting them in the corridor. They are a wonderful group of students. In keeping with the tradition, I have offered them homework off tonight. They have said "No" and that they want to do homework but I think that that might change when they get home. I thank their teachers and all of the staff in the school for looking after them. I hope that they have a very pleasant end of term and I wish them good luck next year in their new secondary school, to which ever one they go to.

Anois, glaoim ar an Seanadóir Gavan.