There are severe restrictions in operation in County Monaghan with regard to the development of houses in rural areas and I am sure other rural locations experience the same problem. There are important environmental principles to be borne in mind when planning applications of this sort come under consideration. However, those principles should not be set at such a level of importance that they prevent the development of housing in rural areas. Many farmers want to see their sons and daughters live on or close to their holding. This type of development is vital if the family farm unit is to continue to be viable and if our rural communities – which are already suffering from depopulation – are to remain able to sustain themselves. No one is arguing for large-scale housing development to be allowed to overrun the countryside, but surely there is scope for sufficient flexibility in the application of planning legislation to allow for some degree of sensible rural housing development that contributes to carrying on family farms and lends vibrancy to our smaller centres of population.