The Monaghan county manager, Mr Declan Nelson, yesterday defended his decision to refuse to comply with two resolutions that state he must approve permission for the construction of two houses which planning officials opposed.
Fine Gael councillor Mr Hugh McElvaney yesterday strongly criticised the manager's refusal to comply with the decision to give the go-ahead to build the two houses off a main route near the village of Rockcorry.
He claimed it was useless having the particular section, known as Section 140, included in local government legislation when it was being ignored by the council's chief administrative official.
"It is outrageous and disgraceful that our request was refused after this council, having invoked Section 140 to get planning permission for these houses," he said.
Responding, the county manager said he had refused to sign the orders because to do so would be tantamount to "an illegal act". He insisted he could not approve permission for dwellings which would be "lethal" from a traffic viewpoint.
The houses would be built at a dangerous location close to where the council had already spent a huge amount of money in making the route safer, Mr Nelson said.
Since the council had passed the Section 140 resolutions, a serious accident occurred at a bend close to where the permission was being sought for one of the dwellings, he added.
He said he had no intention of doing anything that might further escalate a hazardous situation.
He also pointed out that the applicants concerned had alternative sites where they could build.