An Taisce has called for the resignation of Mr Eamon Ó Cuiv, the Minister of State with responsibility for rural development, accusing him of espousing "voodoo planning theories" that were at odds with Government policy.
It was responding to a statement issued by Mr Ó Cuiv last Wednesday in which he "slammed" An Taisce for what he termed its "latest attempt to defend appalling time-wasting tactics which result in interminable delays in the planning process nationwide".
Through its "intractable stance" on the contentious issue of housing in the countryside, he said the organisation was losing public respect as it seemed "hell-bent on ignoring the wishes and needs of the people of Ireland, particularly those living in rural areas".
According to Mr Ó Cuiv, it had even threatened to object to "every one-off rural house" that got planning permission - a charge rejected by An Taisce, which also complained that "this fact-free nonsense" had been issued on official headed notepaper.
"An Taisce never said it would appeal all one-off houses. It does not have the resources to appeal the 18,000 houses built annually in the countryside - this would cost approx €1.7m annually", the trust said in its response.
"It is in favour of housing for farmers and those engaged in other land-based economic activity, including forestry, agri-tourism etc. It is also in favour of restoration of dilapidated existing 'vernacular' buildings and of development in rural villages and towns.
"What it opposes is one-off housing for urban-generated commuters and holiday-homers", it said, adding that it wins nearly 90 per cent of its appeals because An Bord Pleanála "implements the local authority policies that the local authorities themselves ignore".
A spokesman for An Taisce said the National Spatial Strategy was meant to be central to the Minister of State's brief, "yet Mr Ó Cuiv is on record saying he does not believe in it".
Mr Michael Smith, An Taisce's national chairman, said "the most shocking irony of Mr Ó Cuiv's voodoo planning" was that he did not seem to understand that the greatest danger to rural Ireland lay in the over-development of the Greater Dublin area. "An Taisce . . . supports stringent restrictions on growth of the hinterland of Dublin -- Meath, Wicklow and Kildare - where local authorities are exceeding national population targets. Such restrictions would encourage people to stay living in rural Ireland," said Mr Smith.
