Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The reason I brought up this matter is twofold. Similar to Deputy Canney, I am aware of the difficulty young people have in getting planning, the hoops they have to jump through and the back and forth involved in trying to get planning. Sometimes they are not successful. There is another aspect of this on which we had a debate recently in the Dáil. We even had a vote on it. I genuinely believe there is a place for Dutch cabins, log cabins and that type of dwelling in rural Ireland. I can understand in some sense the pushback against log cabins, in that we do not want them proliferating all over the countryside, but there have to be cases where their use is suitable.

It used to be that people won the jackpot if they were given an acre from a family land-holding as a site to build on. They could build a house on it for €150,000. They were sorted. A three- or four-bedroom house now costs €500,000 to build. The cost is becoming prohibitive. These Dutch cabins and log cabins last a long time. They are comfortable, cozy and well-insulated. I really do think there is a place for them and I urge the Department to give serious consideration to developing a policy on them.

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