A housing planning pilot scheme must be implemented as a matter of urgency to ensure one off builds in County Leitrim.
That's according to civil engineer Francis Davitt who says many young dwellers have been forced to live elsewhere as they can't secure planning permission.
Poor soil percolation in parts of the county has prevented the construction of some houses, that if built would contravene water quality standards.
Despite a new study being carried out by Trinity College to develop a system which meets EPA guidelines the Drumkeerin native believes the process is taking too long.
Speaking on the Let's Talk show earlier, Francis says hundreds of couples are affected and it's having a major impact particularly on farm communities
''They leave the idea of living on their family farm behind, unfortunately. So it's really a critical issue I think for the decision makers in this particular area to come together. There definitely are options out there. There are definitely methods of dealing with this problem. But we need to start to focus on the issue and make sure that we start to come up with opportunities and options that are going to allow people to build on their family farms into the future.''
