The Leitrim county manager has called for an extension of the rural renewal tax scheme for an additional three years and has rejected criticisms of planning decisions taken in the county since it was introduced.
Mr John Tiernan also challenged statistics given by the Irish Planning Institute on one-off rural housing. It was stated that one-off houses in the country accounted for 40 per cent of all houses built nationally and 65 per cent in Leitrim over the past year.
Mr Tiernan said he had gone through every planning application granted in the county and he had found that the correct figure was between 25 and 30 per cent. "This is a very good result in a county where 90 per cent of the population is classified as rural," he said.
Mr Tiernan described the rural renewal tax scheme as "the single most significant positive step to stem the population decline and collapse of rural life in Co Leitrim" but said it needed more time to achieve its intended results.
While the scheme has had a substantial impact on Carrick-on-Shannon, it was "only beginning to permeate" through to less-developed areas. He gave examples of how a small number of families moving into parishes had helped retain teachers in schools.
The scheme needed to be extended because "a life-changing decision" to move took time due to the logistics involved in finding a suitable property and selling the existing home. He was also aware of commercial projects which would require an extension.
The rural renewal tax scheme, which covers all of counties Leitrim and Roscommon and parts of Sligo and Longford is due to run until the end of 2002.
"I would suggest that we need another three years to do the right thing for Co Leitrim," Mr Tiernan said.
The county manager made a case for Leitrim on the basis of its dramatic population decline over the past 80 years, which was unequalled proportionally in any other county. It has a population density of 16 persons per square kilometre, compared to a national average of 52.
In the decade up to 1996, the 20-29 age group in Leitrim fell by 20 per cent while it grew nationally by 1.4 per cent.
Mr Tiernan said a major problem faced in the county was the shortage of people in the 15-40 age cohort. "These are the people who will be having children, who sustain schools, churches, sports clubs, pubs - which are the fabric of rural communities," he said.
Defending the development that has occurred under the tax scheme, Mr Tiernan said he believed it had been "very, very appropriate", with "a good mix of industrial, commercial and housing developments".
He said he believed the biggest influence in the demise of rural communities was the development over the past 20 years of large retail centres, which had resulted in the closure of a range of shops in smaller towns and villages.
He also called for decentralisation, pointing out that no Government offices have yet been moved to the county.