Rural housing debate: The Green party's environment spokesman, Mr Ciarán Cuffe, criticised the Government's one-off rural housing initiative by saying a free-for-all had the potential to price local people out of the rural housing market.
Acknowledging that the debate was "difficult", Mr Cuffe said the Government's proposed system would create pressure on rural land-owners to release property for one-off housing developments. This would increase the price of homes while creating "unsustainable" pressure on infrastructure in rural areas, he said.
Mr Cuffe spoke in favour of integrated planning to develop "walkable" communities in towns and villages and said that rural car dependency should be replaced with revitalised regional bus services.
A Co Wicklow councillor, Ms Deirdre de Burca, said the crux of the matter was the absence of affordable housing, leaving rural people with no option but to seek to build homes on family land.
"Allowing for unlimited one-off housing is not going to solve the problem," Ms de Burca said. "We need to place the focus and pressure on the Government to give us affordable housing."
In an earlier debate, a local election candidate in Dublin's Crumlin-Kimmage said the rising cost of housing and child-care was forcing Dubliners from their own city to find a home.
Ms Kristina McElroy said: "In their support for rural once-off housing, this Government speaks about country families' right to live where they grew up. Haven't Dubliners a right to live near their families too?"
