A senior planning official with Donegal County Council has claimed that the planning system is being abused over the building of new homes in rural areas.
Mr Jim Harley, senior executive planner, outlined 16 examples to councillors where planning permission was sought by local people who said the planned property was for their own use.
However, the properties in question had not been owner-occupied and were now up for sale.
In a number of cases, the for-sale signs were erected on the lands even before the property was built, he claimed. In one case, a clergyman was the applicant who stated that the property was for his own use.
However, it was put up for sale even before it was built.
In another case, a letter was received from a local priest confirming that a planning application for three new homes was for three brothers. All three houses were now for sale, Mr Harley claimed.
He said the council dealt with these matters as bona-fide applications.
The applicants offered evidence that they were from the local area, and often a copy of a driving licence accompanied their application.
Some even had letters of support from local councillors.
In a presentation to councillors, Mr Harley showed several other examples, along with photographs, of the sites with for-sale signs beside them.
He also noted a case where a planning application in west Donegal was supported by a letter from a solicitor.
One of the conditions of the planning was that the house would be for the owner's use, but it is now for sale.
"This is making a mockery of the whole thing," Mr Harley said.
Mr Francie Coyle, the council's director of services, said there was a provision under the Planning Act to permit the development of housing in rural areas with conditions. However, he felt that the local authority was now being "caught in the crossfire."
Cllr Francis Conaghan said he was aware of someone from Derry applying for planning permission for houses in the county who had used a driving licence with their application which had a Donegal address.
"Members of the indigenous rural community need to be protected," Mr Conaghan added, "and while the system is now being abused, to do something draconian would be wrong."
Councillors will debate the matter further in the coming months when the new county development plan is drawn up.