There was an urgent need for a consistent Government policy on rural housing, a planning conference in Galway was told yesterday.
The RIAI president, Mr Toal Ó Muire, called for a consistent policy on the housing of urban people in rural areas. He said that the National Spatial Strategy was aimed at directing "urban overspill" into rural villages and towns even though a range of financial incentives existed to encourage people to live in the countryside.
Planning consultant Dr Diarmuid Ó Gráda, referring to the "substantial capital transfers" which were meant to encourage housing development in the countryside, said that subsidies for rural dwellers should include school transport services, group water scheme grants and the costs of postal services.
The IPI president, Ms Rachel Kenny, said that "ribbon developments" provided no benefit to a locality if an individual or family merely resided in a dwelling while working, attending school, shopping and socialising in an urban centre.
"A sense of confusion and mistrust surrounds the planning process in regard to one-off rural housing," she said. "Inconsistency around the determination of applications and planning decisions is often due to political lobbying and intervention. The IPI believes that a set of guidelines should be introduced by the Government in order to restore trust and confidence."