Minister For Planning Defends Controversial Amendments To Clare County Development Plan

The Minister with special responsibility for Planning has defended his amendments to Clare's County Development Plan. In August, a direction issued by Fine Gael's Kieran O'Donnell ordered the deletion of the subsection which enabled the construction of one-off homes along the county's 186km network of national secondary roads. This is despite a number of public objections to the draft order, including one from a family who claimed their son could become homeless as all of their land shares a common boundary with the N68. However speaking during a visit to Clare, Minister O'Donnell says the government is committed to rural housing.