Aontú local Senator Sarah O'Reilly has vowed to stay in the Seanad all night if it means that proposed planning changes for modular homes could be passed to include caravans and mobile homes.
Senator O'Reilly says that the proposed relaxation of planning laws around modular homes is "common sense and much needed" but says they don't go far enough. The newly elected senator says she has serious concerns about those living in "homes on wheels " saying there are people up and down the country who have invested in mobile homes in a bid to put a roof over the heads and who are living in constant fear of being evicted by local authorities.
Sarah O'Reilly highlighted the plight of a family in Ballyhaise in Co. Cavan on today's wider view programme who are petrified that they'll be evicted from the mobile home they live in behind their parents' home. Senator O'Reilly said they never realised the mobile home needed planning permission as it's on wheels.
The Cavan representative says the current planning rules around cabins and modular units are bizarre and ludicrous.
