Barry Ward

So I don't see why they'd be opposed to this measure, which is just one of a whole suite of measures that John Cummins in particular has put in place to help us ease the housing crisis.

And if it's something that suits the needs of a particular person on a short-term basis or a medium-term basis, then is that not a good thing?

Well, you see, the point that Conor makes is equally true in relation to existing exemptions.

So at the moment, if I have a house and I build a 40 square metre extension onto that house, which is exempt from planning permission, and I put somebody into that under the rental room scheme, exactly the same measures apply to that that apply to this.

And yet nobody in Labour is complaining about enforcement of that.

The reality is,

If you breach this by building a structure in your back garden that doesn't comply with building regulations, it's the local authority that enforces that.

If you do something that's in breach of planning permission or if you do something that's in breach of this scheme, it's the local authority or whichever agency enforces it.

There is enforcement there in exactly the same way there is at the moment.

And it may well suit people to do that.

And that's why it's a good scheme.

It allows the flexibility for people to use their gardens the way they want to and allows the flexibility for people who might want to live in that kind of accommodation to do that if they want to.

And there's any number of people who I deal with on a daily basis in my office who would love the availability of property like this in Dun Laoghaire and it'll likely be less available in a place like Dun Laoghaire than it would be in a rural constituency, for example.

Because the gardens wouldn't be big enough, is that why?

That's exactly it, yeah.

So most houses wouldn't have a garden that would take a 45 metre square structure and a 25 metre square of garden that has to be provided as well.

Yes, you do, yeah.

So there's a number of conditions that come with it.

both, because it has to be separate from the building.

The 45-minute square, it cannot be attached to the building, as I understand it, and there must be a separate entrance into the garden and then into the structure as well.