Healy-Rae rejects housing policy

ONE of the country’s leading supporters of one-off rural housing, independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae, has dismissed the latest Government guidelines as propaganda.

He claimed that, without accompanying changes in legislation, the guidelines would not alter the planning process and it would be just as difficult for people to get permission.

"I fail to understand that these new guidelines will bring greater clarity for planners and applicants alike, unless all county development plans are changed to comply with the minister's (Martin Cullen) wishes," he said yesterday.