Rural housing guidelines must be followed

Seanad Report: If the guidelines on rural housing were not implemented by the planning authorities the Minister for Environment and Local Government would issue a directive requiring their implementation, the House was told.

The Minister of State, Mr Pat "The Cope" Gallagher said the guidelines had been issued in draft form prior to finalisation. However, in view of the importance of the issue, the Minister had requested the planning authorities and, of course, An Bord Pleanála, to take them on board and put in place the measures necessary to implement them with immediate effect.

Variations of development plans which were made to reflect the guidelines would be submitted to the department. If variations did not reflect the guideline provisions, the matter would be raised with the relevant local authorities. An Bord Pleanála would have to have regard to the guidelines under the provisions of the Planning and Development Act. "If the guidelines are not implemented by the planning authorities, the option would be open to the Minister to issue a statutory policy directive under the planning act with which authorities would be legally obliged to comply. So, in other words, we will be monitoring, very closely, developments and will take the necessary steps if these steps are necessary."

The leader of the House, Mrs O'Rourke, asked if the power to issue such a directive had been invoked previously.

Mr Gallagher said he was not sure. The structure was there, but he could not say if this had been effective in the past. "I don't think it should be necessary - it's the carrot rather than the stick approach - but if it is necessary to issue that type of directive then we will not be found wanting."

Mr Labhras Ó Murchu said that An Taisce had gone down the wrong road. It should concentrate on heritage and national monuments, an area in which it had done magnificent work. Members of An Taisce, nationally and locally, believed that the organisation had lost its way and had attracted negative attention. Unless the organisation fulfilled the role for which it had been established, it should be de-listed forthwith.

Mr Ó Murchu asked why could a person living 60 to 80 miles from the site of a planning application make an objection? "Very often the same person is lodging multiple objections throughout the country. Serial objectors exist. They know nothing about the communities in which they object, but they have tunnel vision, largely because of An Taisce.

Mr Michael Finucane (FG), rounded angrily on some Government members for what he perceived to be their flippant attitude to the fracturing of several smokers' jaws.

The co-operation of smokers with the ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants had been widely evident, he said.

But radio listeners would have heard yesterday an eminent surgeon at St James's hospital in Dublin make the point that of six people who attended this clinic last Monday with broken jaws, three were smokers who had been assaulted while smoking outside pubs.

Mr Finucane said this would be an unfortunate trend if law abiding smokers continued to be assaulted in this way. Having made this point, he complained that some people on the Government side of the House were smiling. Mr Tim Dooley (FF): "Broken jaws and smoking. That's the latest."

Mr Finucane retorted: "This is not a joke at all. The surgeon has a letter in The Irish Times today. What's your point? I am appalled that people would actually laugh at something like this, when it's made in a serious manner. If you want to read it, read it in The Irish Times this morning."