Mr. Eddie Punch:

To reply to Senator Daly, we are positive about this but it is also important to highlight the difficulties.

On what Deputy Nolan said about tweaks, the 13-month period is definitely an issue but the significant tweaking is needed in the areas of finance and planning. The Government needs to talk to financial institutions about this. This is about planning and pragmatism around planning, so this is not blocked by ludicrous overkill on the planning side. Cash flow is hugely important and must be looked at.

To finish on a positive note, one of the great things about farm families is there is a lot of emphasis on helping each other out. Family disputes are what get highlighted sometimes, but on the other side of the equation are families getting on well living in close proximity to each other as the result of succession settlements. That can bring benefits in the form of shared childminding. There are examples of the next generation looking after the older generation, which can take the elder care burden off the State. There may also be cases of children with special needs growing into adulthood who could not easily live independently if far away in a city, but could do so if they were near siblings. In such a scenario, that kind of housing could be ideal.

As a general comment on Deputy Healy-Rae's remarks, I agree with almost everything he said. There are many problems around pragmatism at county planning level.