Mayo county councillors believe the only way they can deal with the onslaught of planning refusals for single houses in certain scenic areas of the county is to bring back "Section 4s".
The Castlebar-based Fianna Fáil councillor, Deputy Beverley Cooper-Flynn, says: "We are being left with no options. The council officials are refusing planning permission to local applicants to build on their own land and live in their native areas in many parts of Mayo, and it's hard to appreciate why in many cases.
"I don't for one minute expect that all applicants for houses should be automatically given planning permission in their local areas, but when you see genuine cases, and applicants trying everything in their power to meet the authority's demands on planning regulations, continuously being refused, it demands action.
"Section 4s have not been used in the Mayo authority for 15 years now . But we may now, as councillors, have to revert to this Act if our voices are to be heard at all," Deputy Cooper-Flynn insisted.
Section 4 had been widely used by the Mayo councillors in the past.
Deputy Cooper-Flynn's father, former EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn, was part of a Mayo authority in the 1980s that often resorted to Section 4 when there was no other way around officials' planning decisions.
Section 4 allows councillors to overrule a planning decision by officials if the section is supported by two-thirds of the councillors within the electoral area covered by the decision.
Some 43 planning applications were up for discussion at the monthly meeting of the council yesterday.
Erris-based Fine Gael councillor Gerry Coyle said he was aware of a man in Erris who had drilled more water holes on his family land seeking planning permission for a house than Enterprise Energy had drilled in its pursuit of gas in the Corrib Field.
"It's crazy in Erris," Mr Coyle said. "We're worrying about impinging on the scenic view of tourists that come to Erris for two weeks in the year, and in the process we're denying local people the basic right to build a home and live in their own area."