Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

Perhaps this matter might be reviewed because many local planning authorities require that where a farmer is selling or transferring a site to a family member, the entire field which could be 2 or 3 acres must become the site rather than the site of one acre. Once there is a monetary valuation on the property, I suggest it is not necessary to be prescriptive about the size of the site. I understand the Minister's objective to ensure proper planning and development in the new environmental and economic place in which we find ourselves. However, I ask the Minister of State to investigate whether we can flexible on the size of the site. At the end of the day the €250,000 value of the site needs to be deemed to be reasonable, to which I do not object. However, I am concerned that we are writing into law something that might cause a difficulty. If a farmer has a holding of 1.5 acres beside an old cottage and wants to sell it as a site, it is ridiculous that he or she must keep half an acre and sell one acre simply to come within the terms of this proposal.