Barry Ward

You could say the same thing about anything that's built onto the back of any house anywhere in Ireland.

The reality is you're not allowed to do things... But it's attached to the house...

But if it is attached to the house, it's still subject to building standards and all the other rules and regulations that come with building anything anywhere.

That's not what I'm saying at all.

I'm drawing the comparison.

Conor has no problem with the rented room scheme.

It's been in operation for some time.

It works very well.

It provides accommodation for people who would not otherwise be in a position to maybe enter into a long-term lease or whatever it is.

So if you're happy with the rented room scheme, the comparison I'm drawing is this scheme works in exactly the same way.

The only difference is the actual accommodation is not attached to the house.

But Conor is now saying, well, if you put this scheme in place, suddenly wholesale people are going to start breaking the rules.

And yet they haven't in relation to the rent-a-room scheme.

And there's no real basis for believing they will.

But if they do, it's not the case that they get away scot-free or that there's no agency to whom you can complain like a local authority or whatever it is.

That's still there.

At the heart of this, what John Cummins did, and one of the reasons that this has been extended the way it has, is because the public consultation came back to say that John Cummins' idea that you would have autonomy over what happens in your garden in terms of planning has been hugely popular and hugely welcomed.