Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First of all, if one takes this whole issue, and I am aware that the Minister of State will be looking at this in a fair and balanced way, there are enough obstacles and hindrances in the way of people who wish to develop, to get on to building family homes, not to be putting a further quagmire and layer of a way to hold people up. This will not be welcomed by the public at this time. There is enough oversight and busybodies trying to stop people and keep the rural countryside as a sort of national park and reserve for people to go and visit every so often, to look out the window of the car to say that this is beautiful, that we have no people here, and we want to keep it that way. That is not a right way to proceed, will not give us a living, vibrant countryside, and is not about keeping our post offices, our small shops and pubs, and our small communities open. Putting another way of stopping people, another layer of bureaucracy on them and another excuse to say "No" is not a welcome thing. I would like to think that the Minister of State will see this. It is surely the case that the Government does not want the message to go out that it does not want people to live in the countryside. I want to protect all of the species in the countryside, including the human species.