Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

He was making a case for rural Ireland. Everybody can now see that people can get their flights in Luton and return to Mayo. They can come with their families from Britain and spend their money. My point is that if there is an urban-rural divide developing, it is not rural Ireland that is creating it. It is created by people who are opposing development in rural Ireland.

These guidelines are sensible and just. The Minister makes the point that we are not just talking about bricks and mortar, but about people. We are talking about people's civil rights. At long last rural Ireland has a voice. It has a voice in this House as was quite evident by the unanimity here, a voice in the Minister and in the vast majority of people as many people in urban Ireland have a rural background. However, it makes no sense to suggest that people who left Ireland because of economic deprivation, who helped the development of this economy by the money they earned in Queens, the Bronx or elsewhere, should not be allowed to come back and enjoy the fruits of that affluence.

The Law Reform Commission has brought forward a report on discriminatory practice in the planning code; perhaps the Minister has seen it. The commission states it is almost certain that local authorities are breaking the law by discriminating in favour of one family member against another. This is what is happening in the sterilisation of land. It will allow one family to build, but worse, conditions are being attached to that permission. It is not just a matter of discriminating in favour of one family member, but even that family member cannot dispose of the assets. This would not apply elsewhere.

I put a question to those who oppose what we have in these guidelines. Would the great houses of Ireland ever have been built if the current planning code operated in those great heydays of building? Obviously, they would not. The same people who object now would probably identify with those great houses and would give all the reasons they should be supported.

I am delighted this debate has not taken place in a vacuum but in the context of the guidelines. The one or two local authorities from which I have heard the message emanate that these guidelines will make no difference do not understand them. I suggest that officials from those areas should come to the seminars. We have a large number of non-Irish planners in this country, 25 from New Zealand alone. I am not against them, but they should take time out to understand the traditional concepts of housing development in this country. They do not understand it. That is why they must engage with these guidelines. They must not obstruct them nor be disingenuous.

Well done to the Minister and his officials. This is a good time for rural Ireland. We will all stand behind these guidelines to ensure they work.