Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

There have been many calls over the years for a debate on planning and all Members would agree with the call from the President of the IAVI to remove the blanket ban on one-off housing. Local authorities are very inconsistent. Some insist on planning applicants being employed in the area, while others put in conditions for five, seven or ten years and include sell-off clauses, which are unconstitutional but which have not been challenged. There is a need for a much more uniform national policy and I ask the Leader to arrange an early debate on this matter.

We could have wider use of biocycles for waste disposal and so on. This would help halt rural decline, as farmers are being savaged in terms of what is happening on their farms. It is wrong that people from rural areas may have sites available to them from their families but can still be prevented from building. They are getting the run-around by planning authorities and the present policy is denying many people affordable housing—