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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 6 May 1998

Vol. 490 No. 5

Written Answers. - Development Lands.

Conor Lenihan

Question:

59 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if it is his intention to introduce legislation whereby rezoned land held privately cannot be held indefinitely. [10485/98]

The question of whether zoned land which is not developed during the life of a development plan should continue to retain its zoning or whether and in what circumstances that zoning should lapse is one of the issues which has arisen in the current review of the Planning Acts and is being considered in the context of the proposed major Planning Bill which I intend to present to the House before the end of the year.

As an incentive to land owners to dispose of development land, the Government's recently announced "Action on House Prices" provides that a reduced capital gains tax rate of 20 per cent will apply for a period of four years to the disposal on or after 23 April 1998 of serviced land zoned for residential development, with a rate of 60 per cent to apply thereafter.

Local authorities are, of course, empowered to acquire land, including zoned land, by agreement or compulsorily for the purpose of their statutory functions. The question of a general limitation on a person's right to hold zoned land indefinitely, as suggested in the question, raises complex legal and constitutional issues and I have no proposal to bring forward any such legislation.

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