Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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No. While some in more visible locations have planning, there are hundreds of these hidden.

I am just being honest about it. People have them in their back gardens. They are generating an income off them. They are working mighty and causing no harm to anyone. Now, the system is going to come down on them like a tonne of bricks and they will not get the planning. I bet what will happen is that there will be one house that has a pod going out onto a national road and then Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, will put in an objection to it - Ms McGuire is smiling at me because it is true. Then, what will happen is that somebody will be putting it in an area of special conservation and as a result, he or she will not get planning. This gradually will break down people who have these pods. These are the ones we should not be going after because these are the ones that are not going to be used as long-term rentals because people do not have apartments in their back gardens. The other issue is that the updated exempted development guidelines are coming. We anticipate that there is going to be a proposal for something like a back yard modular unit, but that will not require planning. That will not be in place before this regulation comes into place in May and if it does, then happy days. I am just fearful, however. Does Ms McGuire think this is going to put an undue burden on people?