Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 8 September 2025
1287. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a full breakdown of what the development contribution fee is intended to fund, and for details of how these services are delivered to applicants in rural areas where public infrastructure is not provided. [47059/25]
View answer1288. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for clarification on who directly benefits from the development contribution fee, and for an explanation of why individuals building in areas without access to roads, lighting, water or sewage infrastructure are required to pay the same rate as those in serviced urban zones. [47060/25]
View answer1289. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any mechanisms or discretionary powers available to local authorities to waive or reduce development contribution fees in cases where the applicant receives little or no benefit from the services the fee is intended to support. [47061/25]
View answer1292. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any plans of his Department to introduce a rural exemption or tiered contribution model for development fees, in recognition of the disparity in service provision between urban and rural applicants. [47064/25]
View answer1293. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department monitors the consistency of development contribution fee application across local authorities, and for details of any guidance issued to ensure fairness and transparency in how these fees are calculated and enforced. [47065/25]
View answer1294. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any review undertaken by his Department into the impact of development contribution fees on rural housing viability, and whether such fees have contributed to delays or cancellations of rural builds. [47066/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1287, 1288, 1289, 1292, 1293 and 1294 together.
Development contributions allow local authorities to recoup some of the public costs of servicing land for private development. They provide a mechanism by which developers can contribute to the cost of providing public infrastructure and facilities that benefit development in the area and are expended on public infrastructure defined under the Planning Acts. These include the provision of open spaces, recreational and community facilities, roads, sewers, waste-water and water treatment facilities, drains and water mains, public transport, schools, school sites, broadband and flood relief works.
The adoption of the development contribution schemes is a reserved function of the locally elected members of each planning authority. It is a matter for the members to determine (i) the level of contribution and the types of development to which they will apply and (ii) the expenditure of contributions within the confines of their scheme-conditions. A breakdown of what the development contribution fee is intended to fund is set out in each individual local authority’s development contribution scheme.
The legal basis for development contributions are Section 48 and 49 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. Under section 48, planning authorities must draw up a development contribution scheme in respect of certain public infrastructure and facilities provided by, or on behalf of, the local authority that generally benefit development in the area. All planning permissions granted are subject to the conditions of the development contribution scheme in operation in the area of their planning authority.
In addition to general levies, under section 49, planning authorities can create a specific and separate Supplementary Contribution Scheme to part-fund specific infrastructure projects (e.g., rail, roads, LUAS) that directly serve the new development. Guidelines for Planning Authorities on development contributions issued in January 2013.
