Eamon Scanlon (Fianna Fail)

Will the Leader consider a debate on the draft guidelines for sustainable rural housing? Many issues in this regard should be debated and teased out. I have reservations about some of the guidelines, particularly a draft regulation stipulating that one must agree to an occupancy clause for seven years. This is being implemented across the country, although not in every county. That one cannot dispose of a property subject to the clause within seven years interferes with one's constitutional right. We need to debate this issue. Families get planning permission and move into their homes but, for different reasons, they sometimes have to sell them. A family might get bigger, thus forcing it to move on. If one changes one's job one may have to move to another location, and if one loses one's job, one may not be able to afford to keep one's home. These issues require serious debate.