People who want to build one-off homes in Co Clare are being asked by the council to provide copies of cattle herd numbers to secure planning permission.
The council is also asking applicants for copies of birth certificates, school records and letters from parish priests to prove they are local to the area.
The request for copies of the Department of Agriculture cattle herd numbers is to prove applicants are bona fide farmers qualifying under council rules to build a one-off home in the countryside.
The council pioneered the contentious "non-local" rule in 1999 and it has since been taken up by other local authorities across the country.
However, the package of measures designed to ensure that no "outsiders" build in the countryside and no bogus information is supplied to the council yesterday came under fire from a number of councillors and a rural-rights organisation.
The leader of the council's Fianna Fáil group, Cllr PJ Kelly,described the council's approach as "very intrusive".
"These are policeman's questions and is another part of the council's refusal kit."
His Fianna Fáil colleague, Cllr Tom Prendeville, said requesting this documentation is too invasive and is pushing things too far.
Cllr Prendeville believes the council is now asking for birth certificates and school records as a means of preventing applicants providing false information on their status in localities.
Rural rights campaigner Jim Connolly condemned the policy. The spokesman for the Irish Rural Dwellers Association said: "They will be asking for DNA samples next from applicants."
Liam Conneally, the council's acting director of service for planning, said birth certificates and school records are sought to assist the council in establishing the applicant's links with the rural area.
"This approach to the assessment of the settlement location policy component of rural housing applications has been in place for the past number of years and during the tenure of previous development plans and is in line with the recently published Government guidelines on rural housing," he said.
