Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2004
248 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the anticipated return in a full year to the various local authorities throughout the country arising from the increased level of development levies which were authorised by his Department on foot of legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16813/04]
View answerThe long-standing practice of levying development contributions to fund local authority infrastructure was significantly revised when the Oireachtas, with cross-party support, brought in a new, transparent system in the Planning and Development Act 2000. Under section 48 of the 2000 Act, planning authorities had to adopt development contributions schemes in respect of public infrastructure and facilities provided by, or on behalf of, the local authority that benefit development in the area, by 10 March 2004.
The schemes apply to all planning permissions granted after the adoption of the schemes. It is not possible to estimate the anticipated return in a full year under the new schemes as the amounts collected by planning authorities will depend on factors such as the size and type of development carried out, the overall level of implementation of planning permissions and the efficiency of planning authorities in collecting the contributions. The year 2005 will be the first year in which all planning permissions granted will be subject to the schemes. Information on levies collected in 2005 will be available to my Department subsequently.
