The Housing Minister is being called on by a Tipperary TD to relax planning laws in relation to log cabins.
Tipperary County Council has refused planning permission for a number of such dwellings in recent times.
Deputy Mattie McGrath and the Rural Independents group say the current regulations are outdated.
Speaking to Tipp FM the Newcastle based TD said a temporary easing of guidelines would be a help in the midst of a housing crisis.
“Why can we not have emergency legislation to amend the planning act to allow an amnesty for people who first of all have many of these built and the council are haranguing them.
“People have the energy, the enthusiasm, the wherewithal to provide their own accommodation on their own sites. Many of them in very, very secure and very secluded places. We should have a situation where for at least five to ten years have this moratorium – after that once the housing crisis is sorted try and regularise these issues.”
Mattie McGrath says log cabins offer a range of benefits and can be constructed quickly and efficiently, making them a cost-effective option for both builders and homeowners.
He says there are a number of people across Tipp who have fallen foul of the existing planning rules.
“I’m not looking for a carte blanche free for all – but for people….I have three people on to me in the last six days…who have enforcement notices against them by Tipperary County Council.
“There are many companies making these and they’re compact and they’re nice and they’re warm and they’re cosy and it’s a roof over people’s heads. And if they’re happy why can’t the state be happy to allow them to do this – to help us get out of this emergency.”
