Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I commend Deputy Martin Kenny on introducing it. I had many points to but I had the opportunity to sit for a long time and listen to many of the previous speakers. To be honest, I am a bit confused. The Minister stated that there would continue to be support for the provision of one-off rural housing where it is needed and wanted and where the protection of our natural environment and water sources can be ensured. There is agreement on that.

Deputy Martin Kenny's Bill offers an ecological solution. It is not an idea, it is an ecological solution. If we amalgamate what the Minister of State, Deputy English, stated with Deputy Kenny's solution, I think we are in the same boat already. Why was it necessary for the Government to table an amendment in the first instance? I do not like the idea of kicking the can down the road. When we have solutions, why does the Government not back them? What is proposed would benefit everybody. We have listened to arguments about rural depopulation and about rural Ireland falling apart. Rural Ireland is not 60 miles from the nearest town, it could be five minutes down the road.

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