Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

From Whitelands Cross right up to Glenagat Cross where Dan Breen was married in a cow house, as his wedding took place in troubled times, every resident on the road signed a petition supporting Sean Meehan to be allowed to live in his home and on his site. The Minister is totally wrong there.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil promised at the last election that the rural planning guidelines would be changed but then they did a grubby deal with the Green Party and that promise went out the window. This political promise on changing the guidelines has been broken.

The Minister is also wrong in saying that planning can be obtained for these dwellings. We have umpteen cases where they cannot and will not be because the guidelines do not allow the planners to proceed. The Minister will not publish the new guidelines and although the planners might want to allow these dwellings, they cannot do so under the current guidelines. He said the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, is going to introduce them. When will that be? Will it be after the Green Party is out of government and long gone? The Government does not have the will to change. Imagine bringing a 66-year old man to court four times. He is also faced with spending four months in prison if he does not remove the log cabin. If he does not remove it, the council will hire someone to remove it and he will have to pay for it. Let us just think about that. At this time, we see people trying to sleep in tents all over the country in towns and everywhere else.

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