Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Mr. Haughey had a vision for the country and it is unfortunate for him that things went wrong. I am not justifying anything, but he had a vision for economic development and he had the guts in 1987 to establish what was necessary to get the economy right.

An Taisce has got itself off side with Government and decision makers by concentrating on the issue of one-off housing in rural areas. That needs to be sorted out. Those who want to live in one-off housing in the countryside should be allowed to live where they want and An Taisce should be brought into the mainstream of decision making. Its aspirations are my aspirations.

The greater Dublin area is home to 40% of the population, up from 32% in 1961. We want no more than 25% of future development to take place in this region. It is crazy to have dormitory homes 15 or 20 miles outside the city to which people travel late at night after work and from which they speed at the weekend. That is not a natural way to live.