John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae raised this as well and I agree fully. It has to be far too much ideology in terms of rural planning in general. It is a multifaceted answer but there are two obvious issues. First, there are the serviced sites on the edges of our towns and villages. There is also the dispersed rural housing, the once-off rural house. I am acutely familiar with some of the issues in Leitrim. The guidelines I referred to are as a result of the European Court of Justice decision - I cannot remember the name of the case - that kicked out our local need criterion as it currently stands. I believe we must drop the blinkers that apply in some quarters to the issue of rural housing and recognise that, in the midst of the crisis we have had, there have been huge advantages for people living in rural areas both for themselves and their families and also for the rural communities.

See this speech in context